Together with SORCERER came an EP by KELTHUZZAR, the band of SORCERER bassist Kel’Thuz and given the quality of SORCERER’s EP, I had quite a few hopes for KELTHUZZAR’s debut EP “Zew Triumfujacej Potegi” (“Call Of Triumphant Power”) and they have opted for a more epic Heavy/Power Metal spirit, complete with an old feeling and atmosphere, like way back in the 80s, but they still do not sound outdated.

Compared to SORCERER, KELTHUZZAR is opting for the local approach lyrically, going for the all-out Polish attack, which unfortunately leaves me clueless as to what they sing about, but judging from the music, it’s probably about battles and stuff like that, so fitting the epic direction of the music.

After an epic and bombastic intro, “Oddech Lodowej Czelusti” sets out with traditional Heavy Metal, a little hindered by the slightly bumpy production, but with a lot of character and very good melodies, setting the ground for the following four more tracks, where the Polish excel in their melody lines and the vocals, while maintaining an unsappy, yet still epic atmosphere that strikes a chord within my heart. “Dumi Synowie Gromu”’s first five minutes are made up by clean guitars and vocals, very warm sounding, setting a counterpoint to the straight, galloping Metal hymn “Prawdziwego Metalu Kult”.

For the longest time the Polish scene was mostly dominated by Death Metal and some Black Metal, mostly leaving the traditional Metal sounds coughing in the dust, but with SORCERER and KELTHUZZAR there are two hot bands out there that might very well change that, check them out!

(Online August 27, 2007)