Year : 2015
Style : Melodic Heavy Metal
Country : Germany
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans + Video
Size : 185 mb
Bio:
The story behind the band: Lee Tarot, the former mastermind and founding member of "black romantic" melodic metallers Stormwitch, is telling his last story. A story about dark ages, full of kings and knights, the grail, holy wars, magic, witches and fire. After his death in the year 2013, his long time companions, Stefan Kauffmann, Ronny Gleisberg, Peter Langer and Martin Winkler (all ex-Stormwitch), complemented by another long time friend, Thorsten Lichtner, decided to finish his opus and to continue the project that was started together some years ago. The closer the protagonists came to finishing the album the more it turned out that this project has to be a real band. WITCHBOUND was born and we are proud to present the first video clip "DANCE INTO THE FIRE" from the forthcoming album "TAROT'S LEGACY" in loving memory of Lee Tarot!!!
Album:
Two mystical words that will electrify fans of traditional Heavy and Power Metal: "early Stormwitch". Hailed and worshipped by fans of the genre, and almost forgotten and ignored by major media, who always been more interested in newest trends. It's hard to say which of their albums was most important or the best one, but it's safe to say that the first three Stormwitch studio albums: "Walpurgis Night", "Tales Of Terror" and "Stronger Than Heaven", are absolute masterpieces. And to be fair, also the next two albums they did: "The Beauty And The Beast" and "Eye Of The Storm" - even if much more melodic and probably more commercial - had some epic moments, and were full of compositions with quality which is rare these days. All these albums, and all these great songs, had one common element: they were written or co-written by Harald Spengler aka Lee Tarot. After he left the band in 1989, nothing was the same ever again, and sooner or later all original Stormwitch members left the band as well. Vocalist Andy Aldrian completed new line up, and the "new" Stormwitch released 2 albums in the 90s, and after few years of hiatus, two next ones in 2002 and 2004 (which were recorded with different musicians, and with Andy Aldrian being the only one original member of the band). During these years Lee Tarot wasn't very active as a musician, and basically only one album on which we could hear him was "Odyssey" - an epic concept album released under the name of Tarot's Myst, for which he wrote most of the music and lyrics, and what is quite weird, for which he recorded just few guest guitar parts. Why it is so important to remind Stormwitch story in this review? Because basically Witchbound is Stormwitch. Or better, early Stormwitch. Lee Tarot died in 2013, but his old band mates: guitarist Stefan Kauffmann, bassist Ronny Gleisberg, and drummer Peter Langer (who were Stormwitch members in the '80s, and with whom Lee Tarot recorded these timeless classics), joined forces with Martin Winkler (who played in Stormwitch between 2002 and 2004), and with their old friend, vocalist Thorsten Lichtner, decided to tell Lee Tarot's last story. "Tarot's Legacy" includes songs written or co-written by Lee Tarot, which now see the light of the day for the first time. The press release says it's "a story about dark ages, full of kings and knights, the grail, holy wars, magic, witches and fire", so this should suggest or tell you, what to expect from this album. Sure, Andy Aldrian's voice is a trademark of Stormwitch, but so were the riffs and compositions written by Lee Tarot. And even if Lee Tarot didn't play on the Witchbound album, his presence in the songs is obvious - just listen to the opening song "Dance Into The Fire". 20 seconds and you know that the title of the albums tells the truth. We could wonder how they managed to capture the spirit of early Stormwitch, but let's face it - Witchbound IS early Stormwitch.What's quite interesting, we can't say that it's a copy, and that they try to take us on some kind of time travel, as at the same time guys managed to add their own 5 cents, and without a doubt Witchbound is a band with own identity. "Tarot's Legacy" include both dynamic yet melodic Heavy Metal monsters (such as mentioned "Dance Into The Fire" which surely will be band's future concert classic, "Jester's Day", "Die Sword In Hand" or oriental "Holy Ground") and epic mid-paced songs (such as "Keep The Pyre Burning" with guest guitar solo recorded by Hammerfall's Oscar Dronjak), as well as power ballads (such as "Sands Of Time" or "Trail Of Stars").The album is almost 50 minutes long, but when it's over you want to listen to it again (another proof that these compositions are timeless, right?). "Tarot's Legacy" is one of the best German Heavy Metal albums released within last few years, and one of the strongest albums in the genre released in 2015. Thank you for keeping the flame burning, guys! The witch is alive!
Line-Up:
Thorsten Lichtner - Vocal
Martin Winkler - Guitar (ex-Stormwitch)
Stefan Kauffmann - Guitar
Ronny Gleisberg - Bass (ex-Stormwitch)
Peter Langer - Drums (Infinity's Call, Sanction-X, ex-Stormwitch)
Tracklist:
01. Introduction
02. Dance Intro The Fire
03. Mauritania
04. Jester’s Day
05. To Search For The Grail
06. Holy Ground
07. Keep The Pyre Burning
08. Petite Bouree
09. Mandrake’s Fire
10. Wrath Of The Northmen
11. Die Sword In Hand
12. Sands Of Time
13. Stranded
14. Trail Of Stars
+ Video "Dance Into The Fire" (Official Video)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
