Steel Says Last

Other than being the best folk metal album of the year, if not decade, Steel Says Last is also one of the most unexpected reunion stories — or at least unexpectedly good. Initially slated for release in 2001, it got stuck in production limbo; Gods Tower disbanded, and in 2003, their guitarist and songwriter-in-residence, Alexander Urakov, drank himself to death. End of story. But as vocalist Lesley Knife admitted later, the idea of a reunion has been bouncing around since the day they split, and in 2010, they finally did it, recruiting Urakov's pupil Dmitry Lazarenko on the axe — and those were some big shoes to fill. No bookmaker would have offered sensible odds that it all would work out — but those who banked on it would have raked in a heap of cash, because the record is as unique as The Turns and Ebony Birds, which made Gods Tower a cult band in Europe in the late '90s to early 2000s. The thing is, there's approximately a gazillion bands that play "folk metal" by getting a dude with bagpipes or flute to toot over hard rock riffs, but with Gods Tower, the ethnic elements are encoded right in the guitar work — in the genes. The music is based on melodies that sound at once traditional and devastating in the best metal sense, and offers plenty of clever, also folkish, licks backed by thundering bass. The midtempo rumbling, Knife's hoarse roar, and the meaty production seal the impression — this is really how Slavic tribes would have sounded on the march, if given guitars and Marshall amps. Some of the songs are speedier and come with synthesizer leads, almost like a barbarian version of "Final Countdown," but the emphasis is still on "barbarian." This is not completely unique — Gods Tower were never ashamed of their love of Bathory — but the relation between the two is no closer than between, say, Deep Purple and Iron Maiden: influence, sure, but only in the evolutionary sense. Between the you-have-to-hear-it guitar playing, the vaguely timeless melodies, and the monumental feel of ancient legend made riff, these guys can induce battle trance like no other, and it's an experience not to miss out on.