Eternal Champion – The Armor of Ire

Eternal Champion hail from Austin Texas and formed in December 2012, now they unleash their debut full length ‘The Armor Of Ire‘ in a blaze of classic heavy metal with a fantasy twist. This album follows on from 2015’s well received split with Gatekeeper, a single and a demo. The opening track “I Am the Hammer” begins with a slow brooding riff which brings to mind classic bands like Manowar and Grand Magus with plenty of guitar interplay topped with Jason Tarpey’s unique and strong vocals. The title track shifts everything up a gear into an instant headbanging anthem with a vocal melody that will stick to your ears like glue. The guitars are tight and sharp and sit nicely in the mix giving the drums and bass equal placing. Outside of the instant nature of the songs there is lot of nuances with stabs and frills which help to make this debut an absolute stormer. There are short instrumentals which give just enough of a breather before smashing headlong into the next attack. “Sing a Last Song of Valdese” showcases the bands very obvious skill beautifully, with awkward rhythms and some stunning bass runs and on top of that they still manage an infectious guitar line. Like any genre things are getting a bit busy in the pool and it will take bands to be producing this kind of quality if they want to be in with a hell’s chance of spreading their message worldwide.

Eternal Champion have produced a record here which sits up there with the likes of recent rib crackers Visigoth. The band will play the stage of the prestigious Keep It True Festival in 2017 along with the likes of Omen, Q5, Ashbury, Medieval Steel, Atlantean Kodex and Night Demon. The future does indeed look good for these guys.

Tracklist:

1. I Am the Hammer
2. The Armor Of Ire
3. The Last King of Pictdom
4. Blood Ice
5. The Cold Sword
6. Invoker
7. Sing a Last Song of Valdese
8. Shade Gate

Band Members:

Jason Tarpey (vocals)

Arthur Rizk (drums, synthesizers, backing vocals, guitar and bass)

Blake Ibanez (guitar)

Carlos Llanas (guitar)

John Powers (guitar)

https://eternalchampion.bandcamp.com/