www.facebook.com/thehandofglory
Label: From The Depths Entertainment
From: Saarbrücke, Germany
Break The Illusion
Release Date: 2011
Sounds like: The Sorrow, old Killswitch Engage
Track Listing:
1. Built For Death
2. Carry The Weight Of The World
3. Fractures
4. Break The Illusion
5. Red Tides
6. Inside This Empty Shell
7. Fall Upon The Tragedy
8. We Are The Walking Dead
9. To The Night
Hailing from Germany and with a Medusa head on the cover, The Hand Of Glory is very intimidating to stumble upon. Kicking off the 9 song album is "Built For Death". The song is very heavy and actually has some darker elements to it which builds the albums themes very well.
The next song "Carry The Weight Of The World" is very reminiscent of old As I Lay Dying. Minimal clean vocals and very metalcore. "Fractures" stays along those lines as well as the third song. "Break The Illusion" is a headbangers and dancers dream song. With breakdowns and riffing, the song is sure to get the crowd moving. "Red Tides" has a heavy clean chorus which shows off the vocals of the singer quite well. The same producer who did The Sorrow's albums also produced this one and it shows. He really know how to bring out the memorable chorus out of metal bands when they're called for it.
"Inside This Empty Shell" is an acoustic interlude which is very Killswitch Engage like and adds mood and ambiance to the album. "Fall Upon The Tragedy" gets back to raw aggression of the album with its melodic riffing, breakdowns and memorable clean chorus. "We Are The Walking Dead" is a bit heavier yet with at times, death metal influence, an awesome gang chant at the end make sit a great live song. "To The Night" closes the album very well as it summarizes all the musical styles heard previously on the album.
Verdict:
If you dig ANY kind of melodic metal, this will be for you. With comparisons to everyone from Bullet For My Valentine to As I Lay Dying, these guys are serious and won't stop until they're taking over the states.
Standout Tracks-
"Break The Illusion"
"Red Tides"
