Spirit Web

The new millennium brought new hope for the classic metal styles, especially to those practitioners who never stopped creating during the difficult 90’s knowing that sooner or later all this groove/aggro charade would one day be over and done, and that real metal was going to be once again the talk of the town, or at least of the neighbourhood. One such creator was Brent Sullivan, the bass player of the progressive power metal legends Slauter Xstroyes whose debut “Winter Kill” (1985) is a milestone of the genre. He kept himself busy with the power metal formation Winterkill where one could spot another member of the Slauters, the guitarist Paul Kratky. Under this moniker the guys released two decent efforts before giving themselves another shot as Slauter Xstroyes again with the excellent “Feed the Beast” (1998). For reasons that sill befuddle me, and other fans I’m sure, the guys put that act’s spirit to rest once again, only to appear under a new spirit… sorry, name, Spirit Web, two years later.

The album reviewed here is much closer in the overall delivery to the Slauter works than the more ordinary, less intriguing ones of Winterkill; and not only that but it’s one of the sure highlights of the second wave of American power/speed metal along with Destiny’s End’s “Breathe Deep the Dark”, Cauldron Born’s “Born on the Cauldron”, and New Eden’s “Stagnant Progression”. It’s an immaculately crafted, intricately woven classic metal “symphony” that has to be heard to be fully savoured. On top of that we have sinister gothic keyboards at the beginning of the opening “Ghostly Chill” that precede a mazey rifforama which twists and turns in all possible directions the musical complexity ably complemented by the excellent clean attached vocals. Quite a lot to swallow from this very first composition, but there’s no time for that since the following “Seeping Shadows” is another labyrinthine shredder with a more overt speed metal flavour recalling Helstar’s “Nosferatu” quite a bit; head-spinning virtuoso crescendos could make one dizzy those being provided at a seemingly random, but utterly compelling fashion throughout that number. “Cut You Loose” will “cut you loose” with a lengthy balladic inauguration, but expect hard aggressive riffs in the second half although the pace seldom goes above the mid. “Osiris Be Thy Judge” not surprisingly begins with a portion of enchanting Oriental motifs, and later on the Oriental atmosphere remains to ornate this diverse shredder which again refuses to speed up too much also relying on very cool screamy leads. “Foolish Hope” is a superb jumpy technicaller, very reminiscent of the Slauter material, a most tantalizing piece with abrupt time and tempo shifts.

“Once Beyond” is an encompassing 9-min saga with stylish macabre bassisms at the beginning followed by impetuous speed metal which in its turn is replaced by an atmospheric quiet interlude and an exiting slab of elaborate progressive build-ups. “Madness Creeps” shreds in a more relaxed manner initially, but the speedy feast resumes before long creating numerous headbanging opportunities. “Never Time” develops in a relatively calm way and could be viewed as the possible balladic number here, and the most optimistic sounding one. “Days of Nowhere” rushes to compensate for the serene nature of the previous song the guys unleashing a cavalcade of spastic technical, also fairly dynamic riffage the rhythms jumping up and down the whole time, flowing seamlessly into the following “Undivine Intervention” which offers another hectic intro before furious gallops invade the aether bringing sweet memories of many heroes form the 80’s American scene. The final “Reflections and Sighs” spends the first half in meditative lyrical ballads with outstanding soulful vocal performance, but blistering technical gallops are the order of the day later on the band exiting this grand album with the most swirling labyrinthine lead-driven sections around.

This opus can perfectly stand as the missing Slauter Xstroyes release, and to these ears it even beats that band’s output sounding way more energetic by preserving its technical/progressive flair. The guys are simply unstoppable tirelessly weaving these complex tapestries seldom pausing for a break, shredding with the utmost precision to the fan’s amazement and awe. The vocalist Scott Huffman (also Syris, Mindwarp Chamber, Twelfth Gate) is another asset that can’t be underestimated: his passionate dramatic timbre is a treasure which the band couldn’t keep unfortunately for more than just this album. He perfectly fits the progressive meanderings of the music, sometimes literally following the rhythmic shifts. The whole team sounded like a well polished machine rising at the very right moment when the old school was coming back with full force.

Alas, the guys turned out the next very promising outfit who failed to deliver on their sophomore effort. A possible reason for that may have been that they got distracted with the release of the third Winterkill album (“Taming the Wolves”, 2001) in-between whose much less demanding delivery must have slackened their senses. “Far Beyond the Visual Mind” appeared in 2003, but it was a really pale copy of the debut containing much less inspired and less imaginative musicianship with a more modern guitar sound and more simplistic song-structures. Shortly after both Winterkill and Spirit Web were no more, and at least the latter could have gone down in flames. Anyway, reportedly Slauter Xstroyes are still active, but when they are going to strike… it’s far beyond any metal fan’s visual mind to predict.

Even still today, with all the Helloween clones and Melodic Gothenburg "death metal" there are some bands that still come out with surprisingly awesome releases with their own original vibe, and the self-titled Spirit Web release is just one of those.

Violent, shredding riffs come in an abundance on this release, though they are not placed for the sake of heaviness. They come with a combination of well-placed accoustic and clean eerie-sounding passages that results in quite a clever and interesting power metal sound. Coming also with this release is the amazing vocal delivery of Scott Huffman, whose powerful voice is often compared to that of Goeff Tate or Bruce Dickinson. Add the shredding bass talents of Brent Sullivan and the fury of Tony Rios' drum-smashing abilities and you've got quite a talented group with a cool unique sound.

Though it is not to say that they stray from the classic metal edge sound to create something drastically different, it is actually quite the opposite. Frequently you'll hear one of those insanely bitchin riffs that would make Black Sabbath proud, or particularly the solo in "Cut You Loose," which anyone who cannot say "that fuckin rocks man" should be sent to the gallows. Speaking of solos, this is one of those power metal acts that features only one guitarist, yet Paul Speredes shreds enough to fill the role of two, and many of the solos here are extended and still absolutely rule. "Seeping Shadows" probably has the best one.

As far as highlights go, the first four songs are absolutely awesome. "Osiris Be Thy Judge" with its Egyptian sound and riffs of the total ownage category, and the more melodic but powerful "Cut You Loose" are probably the two best of the album, though "Seeping Shadows" is one of those thrashing rage songs that will put you in a fit of fury if you have any taste in metal at all.

The rest of the songs are not as memorable but they are not without their own unique awesomeness, as this is far from one of those albums where every song sounds the same. Keep listening to this album, listen closely, and you'll see that this is one of those albums that will go down in metal history as an underrated, hidden classic, from a very talented band.

*Note: This album was rereleased on Mausoleum records with new artwork and two new tracks ("Blind Faith" and "Dream Never Ending") with new drummer Chuck White. The two bonus songs follow in the same pattern as the rest of the album, and both rule. However, they did manage to mess around with a few of the other songs, most notably "Osiris Be Thy Judge" which had the introduction shortened, which I think weakens the song.