Thursday, October 11, 2012

Holy Grail - Dark Passenger (Single)



It’s been two years since Holy Grail released their fantastic debut album, Crisis In Utopia, and if you enjoyed it as much as I did, it’s been two years too long since we’ve heard new material from the band. With their unique blend of speed metal, traditional heavy metal, as well as some influence from classical music and metalcore (though the metalcore influence isn’t too pervasive) Holy Grail is definitely one of the more interesting bands in the modern metal scene. “Dark Passenger” is the single from the band’s next album, “Ride The Void”, and it’s exactly what you might expect.

The track opens with heavy metal’s classic galloping pace that continues for much of the song. Before long, James-Paul Luna’s melodic vocals enter the song and you’ve found yourself right in the middle of your typical Holy Grail song. Not surprisingly, a lead appears pretty quickly, but retreats in favor of another verse. The chorus changes up the beat a little bit by slowing things down and removing the gallop. Once again, the shredding guitars of Eli Santana and Alex Lee (ex-Bonded By Blood axeman!) appear and don’t let up much for the rest of the song.

Dark Passenger” is by no means the fastest or most complex thing Holy Grail has ever written, but it is a fine addition to their current material. I am a little surprised that this was the single; obviously I haven’t heard the new album, but this song doesn’t quite blow me away like “My Last Attack” did when that was first released. Either way, Holy Grail is still continuing to release strong material and this single confirmed that the new album will be a first day buy for me!

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Final Rating
4.4/5 or 88%. 

Written by Scott