Aska are back with their first album since 2007, their sixth overall continuing a legacy that started with their debut as along ago as 1991. The band is based around mainman/singer/guitarist George Call (also Omen and Banshee), and aren’t afraid to hit the road either as they have played in more than 40 countries during their career. This is traditional heavy metal guys, with elements of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest as they crank it up and belt it through with some extremely strong vocals from the aforementioned Mr Call. It is in your face from the beginning and even the artwork shows that here is a band that aren’t going to compromise in any way and are just going to turn it up to 11 and power it through. No sub-genre for these guys, this is simple heavy metal, but played very well indeed with some very Maidenesque twin harmony leads that are used for effect as opposed to being in your face throughout. They may veer slightly into power metal every so often, especially with the anthemic “Valhalla” but we’ll forgive them for that.
The surprise is the cover song, namely “Ripper”. It takes a great deal of confidence to approach such a classic, and they have arranged it differently to the original, and have managed to provide a strong level of passion. George’s voice is up to the task, and there aren’t many who would dare to take on Rob’s legacy. All in all this is a really good album, and definitely worthy of investigation.
www.askaband.net
