PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Hailing from Lancaster, Promethium is a super group made up of local North West based bands such as: Skin Crawl, Bodies, Desolate, Natural Thing and Massive Wagons. With a distinctive, outside the box approach to heavy metal, Promethium are a band who hold no punches, especially on their latest album, Welcome to the Institute. Built around, fast paced, powerful dual guitar lines and dark lyrical themes, this is an album you will be playing over and over again for years to come. Promethium are made up of five excellent song writers and musicians who clearly know what it takes to make a kick ass metal record….. Welcome to the Institute is such a record, and through ten blinding tracks, Promethium will show you how we rock up North!
First thing to point out is how talented lead singer Gary is. He has such a powerful and memorable voice which really puts him at the top of the metal vocalist league. He is up there with the likes of James Hetfield, Corey Taylor (Stone Sour appose to Slipknot) and Bruce Dickinson. H
e manages to make his words in tracks such as ‘Visions’, ‘Meaning of Trust’ and ‘Tribute to the Fallen’ sound aggressive and edgy while still adding a melodic twist to it. He is such a talented vocalist and really can master both extremes of the singing spectrum.
The dark, almost gothic imagery of Welcome to the Institute really adds a looming atmosphere over this record. Sure, this album may be constantly driving forward through brutal, aggressive riffs and hammering rhythm sections – but in tracks such as ‘The Curse’, ‘Nothing’ and ‘Murder Inc’, there is a certain sinister and shadowy feel to them, making them unique and very distinctive. There are elements of alternative, thrash, hard rock, southern rock and the best bit is that all these different sub-genres merge together so well to create these menacing, rather eerie metal hits.
The production on this album may be a bit ropey and at parts Promethium do struggle to keep the listener hooked during the slower, more droned out moments on the record. If Promethium where to keep the pace going as we see on the first half of the album and replaced a few of their more slower tracks with tracks such as their main single ‘Visions’, then Welcome to the Institute would be a brilliant album. If Promethium where to take this advice on board, then it is clear that their next record will be a flawless metal masterpiece!
A band that are both great on album and live – Promethium have something special about them, a fire inside that is ever burning through their musical talent, passion and song writing skills. Ten great tracks for £7, you know it makes sense for some of the catchiest dark metal from the UK. [7/10]
