EP REVIEW: Purgatory – Purgatory

Here I review the debut EP (following 3 demos) from Heavy Metallers PURGATORY! Out now via Century Media Records.

1. In Your Dreams opens with some nice horror movie soundtrack style keys and blistering guitars that build into truly epic old school grooves. The production is perfect to the music with crawling drums, riff mania from guitars and powerful vocals. The catchy instrumentals are met with well paced vocals and some great lyrics based around “A Nightmare On Elm Street”, loving this track and I sincerely hope it is a statement to the quality of the EP because this was a gorgeous piece of classic Heavy Metal worship with elements from bands like Witchfynde, King Diamond, Satan and more of the golden oldies. The guitar solo was certainly very Andy LaRoque sounding which was stunning. Excellent work!
2. Dracula follows up with some clean guitars, building atmosphere to something presumably excellent. The powerfully sung lyrics are touchingly brilliant with such clarity over the pretty guitars. King Diamond style vocals bring the masterful riffs back with full force and a truly exhilarating vibe from the band. This song is an absolutely gorgeous journey into Horror and Heavy Metal alike with a true Mercyful Fate vibe to it that is so beautifully done. I adored this track.
3. In Jason’s Mind comes back in with some more Iron Maiden vibes and haunting samples from “Friday 13th” that sound killer over the mesmerising riffs, this is some truly masterful atmospheric songwriting from the band. The driven guitars and upbeat drums with thunderous bass come to get us once more with haunting vocals that soar beautifully over the instrumental sections. The glacial bass tones really give the song some warmth to combat the icy vocals, a fantastic contradiction that just shows true skill from the band.
4. Jack blasts in with swinging grooves and soaring leads that turn into a marching assault of truly catchy and fun old school Heavy Metal. While everything is incredibly catchy it is also captivating from an instrumental standpoint with intense rhythms and soaring leads that work together to create an incredibly powerful foundation for the insane vocal performance. There is a great eerie feeling to the otherwise very fun and upbeat piece of music that adds plenty of diversity and nuance to the music. Finally, the lead guitar work is just fantastic. Great work!
5. Burning Oasis is sadly the last track of the album. It begins with atmospheric sampling, very suitable for the albums theme. The piercing, Judas Priest style riffs soon come in with some gorgeous harmonics and once more we are given this slower paced vibe that seems to be building to something monolithic. The galloping groove of the song is soon back with us but interspersed with some cleaner sections adding yet more Horror vibes to it, this song certainly has plenty of variety! We are given a closing piece that is as brilliant and diverse as the rest of the album, ending in true style. Fabulous.

This is some truly fantastic old school Heavy Metal. A truly epic opus of grandiose music that is gripping and performed with excellent from start to end. A must listen for fans of the classics! -9/10