CD Review: Corners Of Sanctuary - The Galloping Hordes (Traditional Metal, 2018)

How can a band being rooted in the traditional metal sounds move further? Corners Of Sanctuary have proven that this is possible with the newest output "The Galloping Hordes".

Corners of Sanctuary - The Galloping Hordes cover

 I remember being positively surprised when I first heard "The Metal Machine" album back in 2015. This band woke lots of great memories of how everything started with metal music for me. Corners Of Sanctuary always pushed on forwards in the meantime with further releases and extensive tours.

"The Galloping Hordes" album marks a turning point for me. The band sticks to it's roots but has heavily worked on their sound. It's now cleared up and pushes the listener heavier. The bass comes more to the front but only on a real stereo not on smartphone or laptop speakers. This surely is one of the effects working with a legend like Bill Metoyer for mixing the record.

The music on this disc remains quickly recognizable as typical COS music but in addition to that the US band worked closely on the details of the sound (e.g. more outworked refrains with multiple layers and backing vocals this time). The tunes are riff driven, they feature lots of fun like riding the rollercoaster riffs ("A soldiers last (a drunken battle hymm)"). The rhythm has become faster on some tunes like the title track, comes around dirty and direct and sometimes slightly slowed down. ("Cloak Of Fear").

Most tracks center around the vocals but "Vengeance Of The Warrior" sets a focus on the guitars. The only weaker number for me was "The Lies In Your Eyes" because that felt a bit "simple" compared to the other songs. The last track rounds out the package and feels like a encore bringing you home. 

If you like it old school but look forward instead of living in the past this album is for you-

Purchase-Link
Remember the smell of opening a sealed CD with a printed booklet inside? Do yourselves a favour and get the silver disc through the band's website.

German readers can also order through the Mediamarkt retail chain website and pick up the Compact Disc a few days later from their local store. Maybe they even have it in stock, use the media station in the CD section of your store to search quickly. 

For fans of the digital music: you can pick the mp3 files from Amazon, too.

Preview-Video
Have a taste with the video of the track "Hail, Hail". It was filmed while the traditional metallers toured Germany this summer.

Interview with Alex Garoufalidis (Kings Call, Melodic Hard Rock 2017)

The band played a club show last month in my hometown in Lingen as part of the new concert series "Lingen Volume". They brought a big bag of straight going Hard Rock numbers and combined them with longer songs that gave room for experimental solo sections as well as lots of lessons on how to use those instruments properly.

The live line-up is build as a three-piece combo. It was founded by guitarist Alex Garoufalidis who also performed the vocal tracks on that night. We had the pleasure to speak with him about the life and work as a dedicated guitar player, his origins and inspirations for songs and lyrics at the beginning and also asked about a little insight into the upcoming new album "Showdown"...
 
Heavy Metal Underdogs: Having heard some songs live I was impressed by the mixture of classic Rock, Metal, partly blues elements and some guitar wizardry. How do you inspire yourselves for new songs?
Alex Garoufalidis: The inspiration for new songs…life itself.  I don’t want to limit my music to a certain genre… to a certain expectation…I’ve travelled all over the world…all them impressions are reflected in my music

King's Call live at Alter Schlachthof Lingen Germany, 19.8.2017

Can you remember you picked up a guitar the first time?
I remember picking up that guitar in my early teens and I said to myself – this is it, this is me! It opened up an entirely new world to me…no limits of expression…I would go so far to say that music is a ‘just’ a means…because it’s art. For all I know it could have been acting, writing etc anything.
Decades ago we did not have all the ‘modern’ means kids have nowadays. We played them guitars ‘till they fell apart…so did all the vinyl LPs…as we tried figuring out our fav songs. That guitar we had to earn…our parents did not have much money…No money for lessons therefore. I was just into music 24/7…playing, playing, playing.

Are the lyrics based upon your own life experiences?
The songs I write are all ‘true’ …my own experiences, opinions.

You've used just one guitar at the show in Lingen. You re-tuned it at some point. Do you only play this model (I think it was a Gibson SG) or are there other guitars you experiment with? Is it maybe the good handling that let's you prefer the SG?
That gig night in Lingen I only used my ’87 Les Paul Custom. I’ve tried ‘Cobalt’ strings for the first and I loved ‘em right from the get go. I only own a couple of guitars. That’s all I need. I am not a collector , I am a player ;-)

King's Call live at Alter Schlachthof Lingen Germany, 19.8.2017

How did you find the people that are currently in the band?
The guys in the band…well, Asec the drummer has been with me since day one of ‘’King’s Call’’…all others are helping out whenever they can.

How did it come to the collaboration with Chis Tsangarides? How did you know he's the right choice for producing the "Lion's Den" album as well as the coming output? 
Some of my all time favourite Bands have been produced by Chris Tsangarides (Thin Lizzy,UFO, Black Sabbath, Gary Moore, Judas Priest). It was a natural step to approach him to work with …and let me tell you, he’s one great guy. Superb work he does… and the stories from ‘back then’ he can tell are priceless.

King's Call live at Alter Schlachthof Lingen Germany, 19.8.2017

Could you please let us have a little preview on the coming album, what can the listener expect?
Recording a new album is always a moment in time, a mirror of oneself …as we progress in life…so, does the music. It should at least.

As for the songwriting for the new record: did the other band members also had some influence on the new music or do you prefer to compose on your own?
I write all songs and lyrics, yes.

King's Call will release a brand new album called "Showdown" on 25th November 2017 via Lions Pride Music. It's surely a exciting time so a look upon the band's homepage and Facebook page is highly recommended so you won't miss out on the upcoming album revelations.

The concert series "Lingen Volume" will continue it's way. As for September no show will take place. It's time for the annual city celebrations that already offer lot's of concerts all across the city as Open Air shows. Make sure to follow the further annoucements of the crew behind the concerts on Facebook.

Live Review: Purple Rhino - Rock am Pferdemarkt Lingen 16.09.2016

Not all the young bands are into modern styles of the hard genre - this one in fact goes more back to the days of classic Hard Rock and Blues Rock of the 70s.

Introduction

I've heard of Purple Rhino several times before I saw them first live. The local newspaper here had some show announcements of the band in their news section and I knew it was one of the bands that could be worth it. But in fact it never happened due to several circumstances that it took until this years Open Air season that I could check them out.

Purple Rhino live at Rock am Pferdemarkt Lingen 2016, (c) by Jörg Everding Fotografie

Summary

To make things a bit more exciting I didn't look up the band on the internet before. I knew of several other live shows that it was more fun if you know nothing about them beforehand and have all the surprise at the gig. I didn't regret my decision since they put on a great set. This band reminds me of classic Rock and Metal bands in the style of Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple.

Especially the first named influence shown through many times at their set at Rock am Pferdemarkt. Guitar player Chris put's on a good signature on the band's sound while the rhythm section keeps it more in a basic tonality and style staying mostly in the background. It should be mentioned that vocalist / bassist Felix also adds a lot to the music and gives it a fresh drive everytime things seem to get a bit in far too deep with instrumental solos. They had this one slow song on their set whose name I don't know of (that's the downside of not listening to a band's music in advance of a show :-). It had a distressing and calming effect on me while I had some sort of thrill all the while - thank you for this special moment!

Purple Rhino live at Rock am Pferdemarkt Lingen 2016, (c)  by Jörg Everding Fotografie

Purple Rhino offer a good mixture of entertaining rock and metal music that goes straight into the heart of the listener combined with sections that will satisfy the fans that love the technical aspects, precision and timing of progressive music. The signature move toward the end when vocalist Felix and guitar player Chris got down on their knees to drive towards each other rounded out a impressive performance which is a good reason for me to keep a eye upon the further band's activities. As for me Purple Rhino were by far the best band on this year's edition of Rock am Pferdemarkt. Here is their current official video to give you a idea of the band's sound and performance.



Contact Data

Make sure to see the band's Facebook page to stay in touch or head on to the webshop where you can purchase their record for a fair price that could make a nice gift for christmas to rock and metal fans. They are regulary playing shows so a look at the homepage is also a good idea. Here are the next dates:

23.12.2016 - Gaststätte Stock, Hagen - Germany
29.12.2016 - Lagerhalle, Osnabrück - Germany
21.01.2017 - Truck Stop, Wildeshausen - Germany
02.03.2017 - Fernsehkonzert Kanal 21, Bielefeld - Germany