WALLS OF BLOOD – Imperium

It’s not uncommon in the world of Rock and Metal for a band to only have one constant member throughout its history. For Death it was Chuck Schuldiner, for Motörhead – Lemmy, for Black Sabbath Tony Iommi – the list goes on. Some bands go through line-up changes so often they don’t even have two albums featuring exactly the same crew. For many aspiring musicians joining such an “unstable” band, even for a short period of time, is a chance of getting some recognition. It was exactly that way with Glen Drover who joined Megadeth for four years in 2004. Within those four years, he appeared on some live albums and one studio album (United Abominations, 2007). When he quit the band in 2008, he was no longer just a Metal guitarist – he was an ex-member of Megadeth. Now, over a decade later, Glen Drover’s new project called Walls of Blood release their debut album. Glen Drover proves that he’s not just a former member of Megadeth, but also a very versatile and creative musician. Here’s our review of the album Imperium.

It’s worth mentioning that this album features multiple vocalists: Tim Owens (ex-Judas Priest and Iced Earth), Chuck Billy (Testament) and Henning Basse (Metalium) to name a few. Having such an abundance of singers, there is one thing to be expected for sure; diversity. Diverse – this is also how “Leave This World Behind”, the first track on the album can be described. It starts with a clean guitar melody soon to be replaced by a heavy riff that is neither particularly catchy nor powerful. It gets more interesting in the verse where the riff changes and the vocals come in. The person responsible for the vocals on this track is Nils K. Rue (Pagan’s Mind), who sang in Drover’s first band, Eidolon. Except for amazing guitar solos, there is one thing about the song that is praiseworthy, the vocals. Rue hits the high notes amazingly and he certainly sounds like Ronnie James Dio at some points.

The next three songs can be a bit of a disappointment for anyone who was expecting something more melodic than the first track, but on the other hand, fans of such bands as Machine Head or Lamb of God might find these compositions the best this album has to offer. Heaviness, though not excessive, solid riffs and amazing guitar solos. That is a good combination, especially as the third track “Waiting to Die” is sung by Chuck Billy, whose slightly hoarse voice is absolutely perfect for this song.

The fifth track, “Tarnished Dream”, is an interesting change, though heavy, it is truly catchy. It surely could make many Metal fans think of Pantera, except Tim Owens, who does the vocals here, decided to stick to his voice and not try to copy Phil Anselmo and praise to him for that. Possibly the best vocals on this album.

If fans of Megadeth are still waiting for a song that is fast and aggressive, then patience pays off. The self-titled composition that comes next is something even the pickiest fans of Thrash Metal may easily fall in love (or maybe ‘hate’ is a better word?) with. Although some parts of this song might sound similar to “Poison Was the Cure” from the album Rust in Peace, it’s probably “Bonded by Blood” by Exodus that would suit this piece of ripping Thrash Metal perfectly. It’s also the only composition on the album where the bass can be heard quite clearly.

“Seven Wonders”, the last song on Imperium is sung by Henning Basse. His vocals suit Metalium a lot better than any of the songs he sings on here. No, he hasn’t done a bad job, he just can do better. The song, and thus the album, ends quite abruptly. The guitar solo is amazing – but that can be said about every single solo on this album.

To sum the above up this album is packed with heavy riffs that intersperse with melodic solos, some of them being very fast and complex, others significantly slower and full of emotion. Like it was said before, Imperium is very diverse and can be enjoyed by fans of various Metal subgenres, though one thing is for sure, fans of heaviness will appreciate it more than those who need melody in order to enjoy the music.