SHADOWLAND – The Necromancer’s Castle

Old School Metal From The Big Apple

While some bands strive to innovate and come up with new sounds and styles, others try to recreate classic sounds from another era in music history. New York City’s Shadowland have opted for the latter on their debut full-length LP The Necromancer’s Castle released on No Remorse Records. Shadowland is fronted by Tanya Finder with the dual guitars of Jeff Filmer and Al Bulmer, bass guitar by Cedric Obando with Dave Hawk on the drums.

Vintage Sounds

The band proclaims they are Traditional Heavy Metal in the vein of early Iron Maiden, Riot, Saxon, Judas Priest and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and in some respects the comparison is appropriate. The band does have a 2 guitar lineup with bass, drums and vocals like many NWOBHM artists, as well as the proper lyrical theme to fit right in. The Necromancer’s Castle has 8 songs coming in at just over 38 minutes, with some good energy metal that does make the listener feel like they are back in the early days of the 1980s. The main issue for this reviewer is the production quality of the album, from the monotonous one sound reverb chamber that the vocals are trapped in to the drums buried every time there is a guitar solo.

Final Notes

For a debut full-length album by an up and coming band, more is expected than to still sound like a basement demo. Shadowland has the talent to do better, and a producer could help to give them the edge they need to not be “just another metal band”. Layered, or harmony vocals would go a long way in upping the game to the next level, as well as dynamic changes from loud to soft (or vice versa) as opposed to everything on full, all the time. While the band does show good promise on this record, they still seem to have a long way to go in getting to the next level. If you like low-fi garage band sounds for your Heavy Metal artists, this may be right up your alley.

Lineup

Tanya Finder – vocals
Jeff Filmer – guitar
Al Bulmer – guitar
Cedric Obando – bass
Dave Hawk – drums

The Necromancer’s Castle – Tracklist

1. Ligeia
2. The Necromancer’s Castle
3. Walking in Shadows
4. Rising Tide
5. Warhound
6. Remains
7. Easy Livin’
8. Pretty Faces