Although they’ve not released a record for seven years, Harrisonburg, Virginia’s Valkyrie haven’t been idle. Guitarist Pete Adams joined Baroness, while fellow Adams brother Jake began a career in teaching. And despite promises to the contrary when Ghost Cult talked to them a couple of years ago, the band have signed to Relapse Records to release their third album, Shadows.
With Sanford Parker (Pelican, Leviathan, YOB) on production duties and backed up by Alan Fary on Bass and Warren Hawkins on drums [the Adams share vocal duties], Shadows is a musical step up. With the exception of rollicking opener ‘Mountain Stomp’ the band have matured their sound and mostly ditched their simple but satisfying approach to song writing. Gone are the Iron Maiden-esque gallops, and in in their place is a complex melody of 80s doom [think St. Vitus/Trouble], classic NWOBHM sensibilities and progressive structures.
There’s still plenty of Thin Lizzy-styled twin leads – fans of Baroness will be find plenty of familiar fret wizardry to enjoy – and plenty of thunderous riffs filling every moment, but the songs are more complex and ambitious. The likes of ‘Temple’ and ‘Wintery Plains’ combine the slow and controlled build up with some stellar intricate musicianship and plenty of melody, and not the kinds of songs you could imagine the band being capable of on their self-titled debut (Twin Earth Records) or the excellent Man of Two Visions (Noble Origin).
It’s the musical muscle that makes Shadows so enjoyable, and the Adams’ guitar work takes centre stage throughout of the entire record. Only one track is less than six minutes long, but they all they devote more time to the altar of the solo than anything else. ‘Shadow of Reality’, ‘Golden Age’ and ‘Echoes (Of The Ways We Lived)’ all combine the meatiness of The Sword circa Age of Winters (Kemado/Toy’s Factory) with the 70s fuzz of classic Witchcraft or Graveyard.
Shadows is seven tracks of guitar acrobatics with real depth. Long-time fans might take a few listens to really acclimatise as the songs aren’t quite as instantaneous as previous albums. But they’ve pushed themselves and created something that is undoubtedly influenced by classic metal but not afraid to show off quite how good they are at that guitar thing. All killer, no filler.
9.0/10
DAN SWINHOE