Midnight Strikes

Widow's debut album has all the ingredients for a spooky affair but more often than not it gets carried away with being overt than letting its inherent simplicities lead. Whatever the case however, it is still a superbly crafted and well delivered effort bursting with gigantic hooks and ferocious leads. It is thoroughly exciting and exhaustive, the guitar work balances rhythm and lead quite nicely-going from tense riffs to frenzied and ultra dramatic solos. The Iron Maiden tradition of blistering harmonies is honored to the full but perhaps a complaint can be made about how forcefully the guitars were placed above all else in the mix. But then again, the bass isn't doing that much and nothing about the drumming is exceptional and since the neo classical tinged solos of Cristof Bennett and John Wooten are splendid in tone and structure then it serves them best that way to be better admired. Check out "Empire of Thorns" and "Angel Sin" for the full glare.

The true complaint then is that Widow is not subtle. Death SS, October 31 and Halloween have a better grasp at the art of spook as far as heavy metal is concerned but Widow sounds nothing like any of them. They are clearly disciples of King Diamond but even then, they fall short. The legendary composers of "Fatal Portrait" and "Abigail" relied on a lot more than an unrelenting storm of solos to get their point across. The lyrical angle was well developed as were the vocals. Widow plays on ten and gets stuck there not knowing the build up is usually the more exciting part. There doesn't seem to be a coherence to their lyrics or how they're delivered. The vocals fit the music but they're not dynamic or adequately layered to tackle any arising subtleties. Not that there are really any to speak of. Everything is direct and flashy and without much scope and perspective to ponder over. Still, the charm of this record is how it rocks your socks off even as you consider the many ways it could be better. Not exactly the depths of evil it promises to be, but pretty satisfactory all the same.

Widow are definitely a band that lets its influences show. Inspired by the greats, including but not limited to Maiden, Priest, and King Diamond. Unfortunately this makes Widow sound pretty much like a retro band. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it somewhat puts a ceiling over the band. Due to a lack of originality Widow probably won't become legends of their genre. Other than a few modern touches here and there, Widow sound more or less like a generic tribute band to '80s metal. However, the playing is excellent and passion is definitely there, making the four-piece a good band to listen to in small spurts. The songs are very well-constructed, sound quality is impeccable and the fact that a lot of effort and labor went into this project is evident. Aside from a dated sound, my sole complaint are weak lead vocals. In my opinion it would behoove Widow to either focus more on the backing aggressive voice, and/or add more power to strengthen the more melodic vocals. Bottom line, if you're looking for some very well-done, hook-filled '80s Euro-metal; Widow is your band.