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Metal Constructions VII

    
       
       
       
     
             
Marauder are a heavy metal band from Greece formed in 1990 releasing seven albums over a lengthy thirty year career. The band, founded by guitarists Andreas Tsaousis and George Sofronas, are now fronted by Spitfire vocalist Tassos Krokodilos - Marauder's new album 'Metal Constructions VII' (released in 2023) featuring an incredible twelve songs over a mammoth sixty two minutes!    
             
And for any fan of traditional heavy metal that has a weighty touch of American metal muscle - 'Metal Constructions VII' is just the album for you. So warm up those neck muscles and prepare to head bang hard, as the album sidles into life with the anticipation fuelled forty second intro 'Intro' - with all fucking hell breaking loose as the album explodes into life with the fearsome 'Strike Back Again'. And a level of ferocity that is absolutely devastating! The pace of 'Strike Back Again' is electrifying, the head bang ability phenomenal, Marauder setting flight in dazzling style - the iconic sound of old school metal filling the air! A simply blistering start, the album moves on with the energetic foot stomper 'Shout It Out', displaying a sound that was prevalent during the early days of the NWOBHM evolution. Marauder may be from mainland Europe, but their sound is most definitely British in origin, the band forming just after the decade of metal creation - the glorious eighties! And I guess without the eighties and the NWOBHM, it's a fair bet there wouldn't even be the Greek metal band Marauder!    
             
And with energy and tempo levels way up high, the band roar on with the fast paced 'Under Her Spell' - setting the mosh pits on fire with a blazing hot head bang-able tune! 'Under Her Spell' features traditional metal's gallop - as made famous by legends Iron Maiden - also planting one "foot on the monitor". And any doubts Marauder are not a metal band have been put firmly to bed - especially with the old school guitar sounding riff that introduces 'Nightfall'. I though I was back in the eighties just then - Marauder parading the NWOBHM sound to a tee! 'Nightfall' may be more mid paced than everything heard so far, but boy does it pack a weighty punch. As does 'Erase' - a thundering head banger to test the head banging skills of the most seasoned metalhead. And with a more menacing vibe than heard previously, the band are in feisty mood as 'Erase' careers to a conclusion.    
             
And as the album progresses with the anthemic 'Rock Fighters', it would appear the band are delivering alternate fast and slower paced songs. Certainly not a bad thing, it's just a pattern I hear emerging - 'Rock Fighters' the most melodic song heard so far. And that chant style chorus is incredible, every listener, fan, follower and concert goer chanting "rock fighters" with an insane amount of passion! And just when I point out a pattern - the band prove me wrong! 'The Iron Mask', a mid paced thunderstorm of heavy hitting punch and crunch, will have metal traditionalists wetting themselves with excitement - the band bringing the sound of 'The Iron Mask' from the eighties to the present day at eighty-eight miles an hour! I was fortunate to have grown up as a teenager during the eighties, witnessing metals development right from the turn of the decade when bands such as Iron Maiden, Raven, and Angel Witch were paramount to the sound of heavy metal as we know it today - 'Holy Bible' one of the most eighties sounding songs on 'Metal Constructions VII'. Marauder began the album with a bang, and a sky high intensity level that has remained unbroken...    
             
...and shows no sign of breaking either - 'Never Die' upping the energy and bombast, galloping forth with all the ingredients to plant smiles a mile wide on the faces of every listener everywhere! The head bang ability of 'Never Die' is incredible, the chorus the most melodic of all the choruses on offer, the band continuing to deliver outstanding heavy metal. Maintaining the albums recent penchant for mid paced mid tempo melodic monsters, 'The Son Of God' is the biggest monster of them all - featuring a hustle and bustle style full of weighty punches, Marauder not afraid to pull the big guns out of their arsenal and shoot them freely! Bringing the album to a close is the nine minutes plus epic 'Father' - and a mellowness not heard anywhere else on 'Metal Constructions VII'. The band are in sombre mood, reverberating with a slow foot tapping rhythm, the smell of balladry filling the air. But then so does the smell of an anthemic hymn - listeners invited to raise lighters high in the air. 'Father' is like the big finish to a show, a play, or even the opera, different to all the previous songs but big enough to stand out and grab the audience's attention for one last time. Standing ovation ladies and gentlemen, 'Father' deserves it.    
             
Overall, a rip roaring romp of all out heavy metal, highly head bang-able and immensely infectious.    
             
             
Review by Iron Mathew Collins    
             
Reviewed for Pitch Black Records    
             
Review is also featured at Metal Gods TV    
             
             
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