HAUNT - Luminous Eyes
January 11, 2018, 6 years ago
(Shadow Kingdom)
Trevor William Church (son of Montrose bassist Bill Church) leads Haunt through their paces on this their debut EP four tracker. Definitely containing a throwback NWOBHM vibe, the most obvious influence is in the dual melodic guitar phrasings evoking memories of Maiden's The Number Of The Beast release. Dig a little deeper and there are other influences: “As Fire Burns” includes hints of prime Y&T and “No Master” refers back to early-era Riot.
There's a slight doomy, or shall I say doomed, ethos running through the music, so it isn't one of those simple, fist thrusting 'metal as one' releases that one expects with this type of style. Church's vocals certainly wouldn't challenge the Dickenson's and Speranza's of the world, but his home spun delivery fits comfortably with the ingestible music herein. So overall, Haunt's initial recorded foray is a most definite welcome addition to the retro-NWOBHM movement.