Another Return

It's a sad state of affairs that we primarily recognize Norway for the country's contributions in the black metal field, to the exclusive of almost all other sub-genres. Not that there's anything wrong with the black metal. It's the most financially successful and shocking musical export the country has ever known, and arguably the best in terms of quality. But before this, the Norse had a small contingent of quality thrash and traditional metal bands in the '80s, one of which was the tragically obscure Artch, who were active as of 1983 and finally got out their debut in 1988, where it was titled Another Return to Church Hill. The title was snipped down, and the album did see several re-releases, the latest through Metal Blade with a bonus video CD-R.

Artch were a straight up heavy/power metal act, but their propensity for bone crunching riffs bordered on the emerging thrash realm, with a similar level of aggression to a band like Metal Church. The vocalist, and Icelander named Eric Hawk, has a voice that ranges from Bruce Dickinson's vicarious leering to a more hard rock attitude like an Ian Gillan or Ronny James Dio.

The guitars are massive on Another Return, and the drums crash like a stormed wreck against a treacherous rocky landmass. The songwriting throughout most of the album is impeccable, with an excellent course plotted through mid paced to slower, emotional tracks, and thankfully only one moody power ballad, and it sounds just as fresh as most of the modern but throwback heavy metal I hear coming out of Europe today.

"Conversio Prelude" sets an ominous, yet majestic tone to the record, through flighty keyboards that feel like they're strafing the skyline from a medieval castle or bell tower. Then the steady chugging of the title track, the choir like woes, and a bell strikes as the bass begins to slowly churn. Something very dark and very metal is about to happen, and soon Hawk's alights like a blaze of early '80s Dickinson. The bridge here at about 1:15 sounds almost exactly like Maiden, but all will be forgiven when he hear the climactic chorus to the sound, which is beyond vainglorious. Yeah, that was pretty BAD ASS. They follow it with "Power to the Man", not the greatest song on this album, since the thundering verse gives way to a rather silly, bouncing chorus that feels a little too like grimy, failed hard rock. "Loaded" compensates with a steady rock pace and a feel very much akin to Seattle's excellent '80s band Fifth Angel. Great, simple riffing that you simply can't get away with anymore.

As I mentioned, there is one ballad here, called "Where I Go", and it opens like a mix of the Scorpions and any random strip metal band from California in the mid-'80s. A little cheesy, but serious enough that you'll feel your jaw bounce to the bass-lines and skull crack when the heavier riffing and leads erupt over 3 minutes in. "Metal Life" is a nice, driving metal piece which feels like some hypothetical blend of Twisted Sister and Omen, and "The Promised Land" feels like it could hammer spikes into a railroad with its guitars, though the lyrics are a little bit cheesy, and I question the wisdom of having two songs about 'metal' in a row, even for a 1988 record. Thankfully the record closes with a three punch combo: the straight power metal of "Shoot to Kill", the laid back but heavy burn of "Living in the Past", and the rhinoceros speed of the closer "Reincarnation", which leaves me with only the desire to hear these guys play an album of faster material at some date.

It's got some cheesy lyrics, and "Power to the Man" is almost sad enough to evince laughter from my tired old skull, but otherwise Another Return was a very promising debut that I've never grown tired of in over 20 years. Artch were a little heavier than your stock NWOBHM worship band, but clearly the roots of their sound all lay within that field, and you could probably develop a crush on this if you're a fan of Dio's original two Sabbath records, the heavier side of Saxon, or Iron Maiden circa 1980-1984. Judging on the strength of this effort alone, the band should have exploded in their country, and they may very well have turned a few ears, since a few of my metal friends in high school were all over them here, an entire ocean away. However, I fear the momentum slowed quickly, since the album's successor was simply not as charming nor memorable.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I found this album while surfing around on a forum, where somebody mentioned the band Artch. I though it was a misspelling, but it turns out it's just a nice Norwegian power metal band.

So, the deal with this is album is that it is a very basic, classic metal influenced album. It has some nice lyrics that are sung well (not screamed), a few memorable riffs, a nice drum beat, and the occasional bass fill. Not a bad setup, no complaints there. The thing that makes this band worth your time though is the vocals. Eric Hawk reminds me some of Ronnie James Dio and a few other classic metal artists, so basically it's a more modern addition to the family.

Enough of that... Anyway, the hits of this album are definitely Another Return to Church Hill (the title track with a very memorable riff and some interesting lyrics to it); Loaded (great vocals on this one plus a nice, catchy riff); Where I Go (the ballad of this album, a true masterpiece); and Living In The Past (almost tricks you into thinking it's a ballad, but then it turns into these soaring vocals and pulsing rhythms).

Only two problems I have with the album, the first being that Conversio Prelude seems to serve no purpose, and it's nothing like the rest of the album, so it's rather misleading. The second problem being that the songs all seem to slow down between the end of the previous song and the beginning of the new song, which lead me to skipping around to different songs a lot.

To conclude, the album is pretty good overall, especially from a pretty much unknown band. I would buy this album (in fact, I did), and I'd encourage others to do so too.

I think the only reason I even know about this band is because lead singer Eric Hawk made a guest appearance on Gardenian's Soulburner album, and was the only hilight of it. This album is one of those ones that was almost forgotten with time, and probably would not have been re-issued from Metal Blade, had it not been for the bands reunion and appearance at Wacken a few years ago (don't know what the current status is), this band probably would have been all but swept under the carpet of metal history.

Musically, this is US power metal styled with some thrashyness thrown in for good measure. Loaded is a fun song and Power To The Man is neat and Metal Life is a great metal anthem. Where I go is a great ballad, but it's so hard to pick favorites on this album because almost all the songs are great.

I'd say that the main thing that sticks out here is the mighty Icelander Eric Hawk's vocals. I guess the closest guy he reminds me of is Ronnie James Dio, but his voice is a little thicker. He does write some very excellent melodies, particularly the title track (their namesake as well).

The guitars are well done as well, there are some great power metal harmonics going on in this album, but none of the leads or solos stick out to me as outstanding.

The drumming is very well done and not flashy, but very apropriate.

I'd say that the big lowlight of the album is actually the new track (they tacked a new track on at the end of the re-issue). It's downtuned and contains none of the personality of the Artch of old. I was particularly disappointed considering the two songs that Hawk did most of the vocal duties with Gardenian are on par with anything that Artch had done prior to their breakup, and was hoping for some more stuff in that vein.