Halcyon Way (USA)

[Horex]

Halcyon Way - Conquer (2014)











Year : 2014
Style : Progressive Power Metal
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + front
Size : 122 mb

Bio:

Based in Atlanta, Georgia and founded in 2001, Halcyon Way is the ultimate example of blue-collar work ethic, self-reliant bootstrapping, and hard work & perseverance in spite of nearly insurmountable odds. The band has released three albums worldwide through Nightmare Records/Sony RED, performed in a dozen countries and counting, and is preparing to unleash their 4th record in early 2014.Halcyon Way’s sound cannot be neatly slotted into any sub-category of metal; but it can be described as heavy, catchy, technical, and above all, focused on mature songcraft. The band draws influences & inspiration from many metal bands from Megadeth to Dream Theater to Testament to Chimaira. The focus of the songwriting is on catchy hooks, vocal harmonies a la King’s X or Stryper, and on heavy, technical, but ultimately accessible instrumentation. Although these are many disparate influences, the net result is a brand of metal that is immediately familiar and comfortable to the listener, yet strangely hard to define.In 2008, the band released their debut album on Nightmare Records/Koch Entertainment entitled A Manifesto For Domination. The CD was released to rave reviews, and the album was produced by Jon Bodan and James Murphy (formerly of the band Testament), and mixed by German producer Lasse Lammert (known for his work with Alestorm, Gloryhammer, and many other European metal bands).In 2009, Halcyon Way began tracking the follow up record, Building The Towers. This time the band upped the ante in all respects, most notably with the acquisition of vocalist Steve Braun, formerly of Lion Music’s Italy-based Ashent. In addition, the band enlisted former Black Label Society drummer Mike Froedge to engineer the drum tracks in his studio, had Pamela Moore (“Sister Mary” from the legendary Operation:Mindcrime album by Queensryche) guest on 5 tracks, and brought the most sought after artist in heavy metal, Travis Smith, onto the team to create the artwork. Lasse Lammert was again tapped to not only mix and master the album, but to co-produce it alongside Jon. The album was released to amazing reviews in October of 2010. Upon returning to the US in May of 2012, the band began refining the material for their new album, and Jon traveled to Germany with drummer Ernie Topran to track the drums for the new CD. These sessions were completed in LSD Studios with long-time collaborator Lasse Lammert. This time produced entirely by Jon, and mixed and mastered again by Lasse, the new record is in mixdown at this time and should be released in first quarter 2014 and also released to the RockBand franchise.The band also enlisted the acclaimed Los Angeles-based producer Seth Von Paulus to assist with vocal production. Seth is best known for his work with platinum-selling artists such as Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys.Never a band to sit on its hands, while completing the new album and having it mixed down, Halcyon Way was booked for a 2-week US/Canada tour in April of 2013 with the legendary U.D.O., the original voice of Accept, and this highly successful run introduced the band to thousands of new fans in theater-sized venues across the US & Canada. This tour was a trial by fire for the new addition to the HW camp, Max Eve on bass. Hot on the heels of that tour, the band went out on the road again for 14 shows in support of the legendary progressive metal band Fates Warning, for their third tour of the US of the year.These tours were designed to build awareness of Halcyon Way in preparation for the release of their fourth album, “Conquer”. This album shows immense growth and maturity in songwriting as they recount the struggles they have faced as a band and individually in the last few years. Make no mistake – this band has a chip on their shoulder and will not be denied.Halcyon Way has built a reputation - brick by brick & stone by stone - as being a blue-collar, hard working band that will seize any opportunity given them, and wring it for all it's worth. The band has accomplished all of these things with no label support whatsoever. It has been due to the hard work, sacrifice, and dedication of the band’s members to succeed at all costs. Their “do what we need to do” attitude is making their name in the music industry, and a favorite of fans worldwide. You can see this for yourself as they take the stage and demand that you take notice.

Line Up:

Steve Braun - Vocals - See also: ex-All Too Human, ex-Ashent
Jon Bodan - Guitars (lead), Vocals (backing), Programming - See also: ex-Edge of Forever, karbonBlack, ex-Final Judgement
Max Eve - Guitars (rhythm) (2012-present)
Skyler Moore - Bass, Vocals (backing) (2014-present)
Ernie Topran - Drums - See also: Xeroderma

Tracklist:

01. Conquer 04:15
02. Web of Lies 04:22
03. Conceived in Torment 04:00
04. Home 04:53
05. World Comes Undone 03:58
06. Militant 04:08
07. Hatred Is My Cause 04:26
08. The Poisoned Apple 04:31
09. Save Your Tears 04:37
10. Every Second Counts 04:42
11. King of Ruin 04:14
12. Eviscerate the Morning Sun 03:50




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/

[Horex]

Halcyon Way - Bloody But Unbowed (2018)











Year : 2018
Style : Progressive Power Metal
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + front + Video
Size : 197 mb

Bio:

Based in Atlanta, Georgia and founded in 2001, Halcyon Way is the ultimate example of blue-collar work ethic, self-reliant bootstrapping, and hard work & perseverance in spite of nearly insurmountable odds. The band has released three albums worldwide through Nightmare Records/Sony RED, performed in a dozen countries and counting, and is preparing to unleash their 4th record in early 2014.Halcyon Way’s sound cannot be neatly slotted into any sub-category of metal; but it can be described as heavy, catchy, technical, and above all, focused on mature songcraft. The band draws influences & inspiration from many metal bands from Megadeth to Dream Theater to Testament to Chimaira. The focus of the songwriting is on catchy hooks, vocal harmonies a la King’s X or Stryper, and on heavy, technical, but ultimately accessible instrumentation. Although these are many disparate influences, the net result is a brand of metal that is immediately familiar and comfortable to the listener, yet strangely hard to define.In 2008, the band released their debut album on Nightmare Records/Koch Entertainment entitled A Manifesto For Domination. The CD was released to rave reviews, and the album was produced by Jon Bodan and James Murphy (formerly of the band Testament), and mixed by German producer Lasse Lammert (known for his work with Alestorm, Gloryhammer, and many other European metal bands).In 2009, Halcyon Way began tracking the follow up record, Building The Towers. This time the band upped the ante in all respects, most notably with the acquisition of vocalist Steve Braun, formerly of Lion Music’s Italy-based Ashent. In addition, the band enlisted former Black Label Society drummer Mike Froedge to engineer the drum tracks in his studio, had Pamela Moore (“Sister Mary” from the legendary Operation:Mindcrime album by Queensryche) guest on 5 tracks, and brought the most sought after artist in heavy metal, Travis Smith, onto the team to create the artwork. Lasse Lammert was again tapped to not only mix and master the album, but to co-produce it alongside Jon. The album was released to amazing reviews in October of 2010. Upon returning to the US in May of 2012, the band began refining the material for their new album, and Jon traveled to Germany with drummer Ernie Topran to track the drums for the new CD. These sessions were completed in LSD Studios with long-time collaborator Lasse Lammert. This time produced entirely by Jon, and mixed and mastered again by Lasse, the new record is in mixdown at this time and should be released in first quarter 2014 and also released to the RockBand franchise.The band also enlisted the acclaimed Los Angeles-based producer Seth Von Paulus to assist with vocal production. Seth is best known for his work with platinum-selling artists such as Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys.Never a band to sit on its hands, while completing the new album and having it mixed down, Halcyon Way was booked for a 2-week US/Canada tour in April of 2013 with the legendary U.D.O., the original voice of Accept, and this highly successful run introduced the band to thousands of new fans in theater-sized venues across the US & Canada. This tour was a trial by fire for the new addition to the HW camp, Max Eve on bass. Hot on the heels of that tour, the band went out on the road again for 14 shows in support of the legendary progressive metal band Fates Warning, for their third tour of the US of the year.These tours were designed to build awareness of Halcyon Way in preparation for the release of their fourth album, “Conquer”. This album shows immense growth and maturity in songwriting as they recount the struggles they have faced as a band and individually in the last few years. Make no mistake – this band has a chip on their shoulder and will not be denied.Halcyon Way has built a reputation - brick by brick & stone by stone - as being a blue-collar, hard working band that will seize any opportunity given them, and wring it for all it's worth. The band has accomplished all of these things with no label support whatsoever. It has been due to the hard work, sacrifice, and dedication of the band’s members to succeed at all costs. Their “do what we need to do” attitude is making their name in the music industry, and a favorite of fans worldwide. You can see this for yourself as they take the stage and demand that you take notice.

Album:

For one of the rare times I actually know about this band before reviewing their album. They actually have been in Montreal a number of times and opened for bands like EVERGREY and ANGRA. They have a strong following and have been at it for more than 15 years. This is their fourth full-length album and first since 2014. Their sound is a mix of old ELDRITCH and very early EVERGREY. In a sense, they are more Progressive Metal driven than both of these bands but the catchy choruses and overall feeling made me think of these two bands at the beginning. They seemed to have continued in the vein of the previous album, “Conquer”; a lot of the aggressive shredding mixed with some really catchy stuff. It's not for everyone and the evolution isn't quite as present as many fans would have liked, nonetheless. It's more a follow-up than a progression and I consider it as a step down but it still is a very solid effort. The emotional driven vocals of Steve Braun make sure to grab the attention of the listener at the forefront. He bellows and has such passion in his voice, something you come and think of about Progressive Metal. You have to have a very powerful singer to go along with the sound of the band and he is the right fit that's for sure.I don't know why they started with a song that's not even 2 minutes long and it has some vocals on it. I probably would have preferred an instrumental song to begin the album because I thought the beginning was really good. Made me think about “The Hellion” back in the day for JUDAS PRIEST; it was very reminiscent of this. This album would have benefited from a better opener than this one, unfortunately. My favorite song of the album is by far, “Slaves to Silicon”; it's like an odd to the false prophets, the hypocrites; what's fake about people and society. The message is really clear and I thought it was thought provoking. This song is the perfect example on how the band sounds most of the time on their previous efforts. A bit of PANTERA, mixed with some Prog Metal goodies. If you like DIGITAL RUIN, I know, I know, it’s an obscure reference but they are pretty much in the same genre but with a better singer. DIGITAL RUIN was standouts in the beginning of the 2000’s for Inside Out but faded away, unfortunately. If you want something in the Progressive Metal genre but isn't overly technical, this band might be a buried treasure for you. If you are more of a DREAM THEATER fan, well, I don't know if you'll find what you are looking for.The production isn't as good as hoped; I felt the lead guitar was burying a bit the vocals unfortunately. It's not too shabby but I felt some things were quite right and could have been much better. It's still a very good album overall with interchangeable pieces. No real evolution but a continuation of some pretty good Progressive Metal with some aggressive Thrash elements mixed with good ole Groove Metal. Not groundbreaking but I think longstanding fans will get a kick out it nonetheless.

Line Up:

Steve Braun - Vocals - See also: ex-All Too Human, ex-Ashent
Jon Bodan - Guitars (lead), Vocals (backing), Programming - See also: ex-Edge of Forever, karbonBlack, ex-Final Judgement
Max Eve - Guitars (rhythm) (2012-present)
Skyler Moore - Bass, Vocals (backing) (2014-present)
Aaron Baumoel - Drums (2016-present) - See also: Crown of Sorrow, ex-Sybaritic, ex-Paladin, ex-Aggressor State, ex-Overt Enemy (live)

Tracklist:

01. Devolutionize
02. Bloody But Unbowed
03. Blame
04. Slaves To Silicon
05. Superpredator
06. Primal Scream
07. Ten Thousand Ways
08. The Church Of Me
09. Cast Another Stone
10. Crowned In Violence
11. Burning The Summit
12. Desolate

+ Video "Blame" (Official Video)




Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/