TAD MOROSE - St. Demonius
August 21, 2015, 8 years ago
(Despotz)
Second album for this homegrown Swedish label, neither recalling the magnificence of the band's 2003 Modus Vivendi. The line-up is the same as on Revenant, with former Steel Attack vocalist Ronny Hemlin still doing his Tim Ripper Owens impersonation over a dozen tracks. A fter a rousing opening, "Bow To The Reaper's Blade" settles into a mid-tempo walk-through that (sadly) is all too common in Tad Morose material these days.
A chugging "Where Ignorance Reigns" treads similar territory to recent Vicious Rumors output, albeit minus the edgy guitars. There's a real urgency to "The Shadows Play", not sustained, but certainly more upbeat than its sameness surroundings. There's a groove to the plodding "Darkness Prevail", a snippet of the progressive on "Dream Of Memories" and widdly guitar solo in "Your Own Demise'", but not enough variation to really distinguish any one song from another. Disappointing.