Band: Warkings
Album: Reborn
Release Date: 16th November 2018
Records Label: Napalm Records
Warkings have been very much hyped over Facebook by Napalm Records and the band’s Facebook page. Of course, I had to have a listen for myself and see if the full album release was worth all the hype.
We start off with some western/oriental themed guitars with Give Em War. The instrumental gets heavier and faster, and there are clean vocals. A common trend throughout the entire album is the headbanging and fist pumping music, I can imagine this being fantastic live. The Last Battle has a similar tempo, with a singalong intro and “WAR!!!!!!!” chants.
Fire Falling Down has a bit of a contrast in its music. The guitars sound almost happy, but the rest of the instrumental sounds sinister with a definite sense of danger. Again, it’s catchy and a ripe for a good live singalong. Hephaistos is a change from the rest of the album so far with a much slower pace. It reminds me of The Book of Heavy Metal by Dream Evil with the instrumental.
Sparta brings back the hard and fast pace with the introduction of harsh vocals as well as the more usual clean. There is a lot of potential for live crowd interaction with “SPARTA! AWOOOO!” and the more traditional “Woaaaahhh” singalong during a calmer section of the track. Battle Cry brings back the slower pace, featuring battle chants and war drums.
Holy Storm picks up the pace again a little with yet another catchy headbanging track, and Never Surrender quickens the tempo further, and I can even hear a little bit of synth in the mix.
The penultimate track, Gladiator, begins in a foreboding manner with the guitars on their own. Then fast, powerful drums come in. There are also spoken word elements from the viewpoint of the gladiator, first with whispering, and then breaking into song. Finally, Die Flut ends the album. It is very much a ballad, with a piano intro, spoken word in German, strings and flutes. It is definitely a “lighter in the air” track.
Does this debut release live up to the hype? On my first listen, I would sadly have to say “not quite”, but this doesn’t mean the album isn’t great, and for me it is a grower. This is one of those albums that I will like more and more as I take the time to give it a few more listens.
Verdict: 8/10
Buy Warkings music and merch: https://warkings.bandcamp.com/album/reborn
Like Warkings on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/warkingsmetal/
Listen to Warkings on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7DXUeaMULtMVFmmaKFzH3E
Ostara Metal 