Shadow Warrior - Cyberblade - Reviewed By Keep On Rockin ! check it out here at this link: https://keep-on-rocking.com/2021/01/20/shadow-warrior-cyberblade/
Shadow Warrior are a Polish heavy metal band. Their roots are in classic heavy metal played by bands such as the early Accept, Iron Maiden, Saxon and Warlock. Like the latter, the Poles have a woman at the microphone. Founded in 2019, the band released their debut EP “Return Of The Shadow Warrior” in the same year. Several singles and demos followed. And a live album. In November last year the time had come. The quintet released the first long-lathe “Cyberblade”. The promo mail for this landed in my mailbox in the last days of December.
An extremely unusual beginning. With the opener and title song you can first hear a whistling medium wave radio. On which you zap through the reception area until you have found the right station. And on this one initially hears an alarm signal. Well, that's how you can introduce a Metal song like “ Cyberblade ”. What follows is flawless hard rock with a slight punk attitude. The song is dominated by the powerful voice of the singer Anna Kłos. At “ Demolition Hammer ” the guitars roast. You can literally feel the destructive work of the hammer. The double bass clearly sets the rhythm here. At the “ Iron Hawk Rising”The Poles are slowing down a little. The “ohohohoh” in the chorus sounds a bit cheesy. But certainly invites you to sing along live. Donner then initiates the high-speed banger “ I Am The Thunder ”. Here, too, the chorus is good for singing along, although there is no longer any trace of kitsch. “ Demon's Sword ” is reminiscent of the epic Doom of Black Sabbath or Candlemass. Musicians and fans can take a breather here. Motorbike noises, fast-paced guitar riffs and solos, driving double bass and a singer who can easily keep up with this pace. That is the ambience for “ headless riders ”. The title of the final song “ Flight Of The Steel Samurai”Actually suggests another parforce ride. But the song starts as a ballad and then turns into a rock anthem.
Very good rock and metal bands / musicians have always come from Poland. I am thinking of Czesław Niemen, SBB, or in the present day Crystal Viper, Vader or Riverside. Shadow Warrior can now also be added to this list. With “Cyberblade” the musicians have released a convincing debut. They probably got support from their compatriot Marta Gabriel (Crystal Viper) and her husband, the producer Bart Gabriel. The Poles hold up the flag of traditional heavy metal on Cyberblade, but add a pinch of punk to it. Conclusion: extremely worth hearing.
8.4 / 10 - Keep On Rockin
Shadow Warrior is the classic heavy metal attack in the vein of early Accept, Iron Maiden, Saxon and Warlock. The band was formed in 2019 and made their recording debut with 5-song EP “Return of the Shadow Warrior”, which lyrics were based directly on history and culture of Japan. The album, initially self-released by the band in limited 100 copies, turned out to be a hit and in 2 weeks span it was totally sold out. Soon afterwards the band started to gain attention of classic heavy metal record labels from all over the world – this yielded in reissue of their EP for Asian, South American and European markets, released by Spiritual Beast, Burning Leather and Heathen Tribes respectively on CD, vinyl and MC.
By early 2020 Shadow Warrior made contact with Japanese heavy metal legend, Metalucifer, which resulted in 7” vinyl single “Heavy Metal Typhoon”, which featured Metalucifer/Sabbat lead singer Gezolucifer on vocals and iconic metal collector, Neal Tanaka, on the album cover.
By mid-2020 the band finished recording of their full-length debut album, “Cyberblade”. The album, featuring 35 minutes of premiere material encapsuled in 8 songs, was recorded and mixed in HiGain Studio (Białystok, Poland) by Janusz Grabowski and Marcin Grygoruk. The album will be released on 18 th November 2020 by Spiritual Beast (CD) for Japanese market and by Ossuary Records (CD/MC/digital) for everywhere else. The album was preceded by the 7” vinyl single “I Am the Thunder”.
“Each song of the Shadow Warrior is filled with great, sharp riffs and memorable melodies, just the way traditional heavy metal is supposed to be!” - Heavy Metal Pages
“Many bands with a lot bigger experience can be envious of Shadow Warrior’s phenomenal start” - Metal Up! Magazine
“Shadow Warrior is pure and brutally honest heavy metal, which might soon stir the scene quite a bit!” - Burnn! Magazine
“The only negative here is the length of the album – it’s not long enough!” - Rubber Axe Web Zine
“Their debut is a very strong entry in the heavy metal world” - Deaf Forever
Line-up:
Anna Kłos – lead vocals
Marcin Puszka - guitar / backing vocal
Krzysztof “Chris” Aftyka - guitar / backing vocal
Karol Zmaczyński - bass / backing vocal
Zdzisław Krzyżanowski - drums
Band: Shadow Warrior
Album: „Cyberblade"
Country: Poland
Genre: Oldschool Heavy Metal
Label: Ossuary Records
Premiere: November 18th 2020
Follow the band at these links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShadowWarriorPL
Bandcamp: https://shadowwarrior.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shadowofthewarrior
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