San Francisco based heavy metal trio Castle conjure a veritable bucket of riffs with their third full length album ‘Under Siege’. But do they tower above their peers, or is it an utter shambles?
What Castle excel at are riffs. Right from the opening blaze of ‘Distant Attack’ there is some dizzying, dexterous guitar work from Mat Davis, an throughout the album riff after mighty riff pile up, often layered on top of one another. ‘A Killing Pace’ is arguably the best example of this, and the best track on the record, featuring some epic grooves, rhythmic shifts and showcasing just how tight the band are as a unit.
‘Be My Ghost’ kicks in with a moody bassline that’s swiftly joined by some massive drums and ethereal, droning vocals courtesy of Liz Blackwell. There’s plenty of Iron Maiden influenced frantic soloing thrown in for good measure. ‘Pyramid Lake’ gallops along with a Baroness like pacing, and includes a nice uplifting, rebellious tone throughout.
Sadly it’s not all positives. While the chunky riffs certainly carry things along, they can get incredibly overbearing at times, with the layering just creating a confusing mish-mash, such as the close-out of ‘Distant Attack’. Although Blackwell’s vocals show impressive range and suit the Sabbath-ian retro overtones of the record, they are at times a little strained or patchy (‘Pyramid Lake/Temple of the Lost’) and while this adds a certain organic element, it doesn’t make for entirely comfortable listening.
The galloping rhythm is overused a tad, and the production job, although competent overall, at times is a little rough around the edges. However, if you can look past this, ‘Under Siege’ is a competently executed album with just enough flair to keep the casual listener interested. It’s not building on anything new, but the foundations are rock solid.
