Rejoice metalheads! Chiliwackian power thrashers, Medevil, has created a top-notch debut full-length album entitled Conductor Of Storms. On its eight tracks, the band blazes through a high dose of trad metal with NWOBHM elements, decorated with a blend of Mercyful Fate, Accept/UDO and Metal Church influences. 

Opener “Nightwalk” possesses the aforementioned traditional metal sound with a menacing delivery. And once the vocals kick in, you know Medevil means business. Vocalist Liam Collingwood does his best Udo Dirkschneider impression. Actually, he’s more of a cross between Udo, Brian Johnson and Rock ’n’ Rolf Kasparek. The razor sharp riffing and thunderous basslines of “Machination Factory” is a combination of classic rock influences in the vein of Dio/Rainbow with an old school metal wallop. The seven-plus minute “The Angel of Rain” is ballady at first, but consists of vibrant, Maiden dynamics that ebbs and flows throughout its duration, ending as magically as it began. Closer “The Fabled Uxoricide” is an epic, 12-minute melodic track decorated with prominent basslines and nicely-picked guitar leads. 

Although some of the passages in the longer tracks are a little too long and repetitive, the band proves it possesses great songwriting skills. After placing in the top six of the 2015 Wacken Metal Battle Canada competition, the band has amassed a growing underground fan base. For an unsigned band with a stellar self-released debut album (with killer artwork to boot!), Medevil is gaining loads of momentum at the moment.