Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Heavy Rotation-Valkyrie-"Man of Two Visions"

I got this album a while back, but put it on the backburner because I have had so many other albums to listen to. This is the thing that I love so much about music. There is always that one little gem amongst the mass of junk that is so thrilling once you find it. I love the NWOBM meets Psychedelic with a touch of doom sound. The harmonizing vocals rule as well as the brilliant duel guitar leads reminescent of Iron Maiden, which by the way is one of my all-time favorites. This album was originally released on Noble Records in 2008 but has been reissued on Meteor City Records.

"Driven by brothers Jake and Pete Adams, Valkyrie draws from pre-metal style to create a rich and earthy stoner metal sound. They formed in summer 2002 as a three-piece consisting of vocalist/guitarist Jake Adams, bassist Eric Seaman, and drummer Luke Shafer. In 2004 Jake's brother Pete was introduced on second guitar and a five song demo was recorded at a local college radio station. Shafer soon departed and was replaced by Mike Hoke on drums and a new demo, Sunlight Shines, and a split 7" with VOG were recorded. Seaman and Shafer parted ways with the band at the end of 2004 and were replaced by bassist Nick Crabill and drummer Nic McInturff. This line-up recorded the eponymous debut album, which was released by Twin Earth Records. In early 2006 Valkyrie again parted ways with its rhythm section and recruited current bassist Will Barry-Rec and drummer Gary Isom (Spirit Caravan, Pentagram). Isom and Valkyrie parted ways in mid 2007 and Valkyrie recruited drummer Warren Hawkins. Pete Adams is now also a guitarist for the band Baroness.

What others are saying:

"It's that relentless, take no prisoners approach that's the hardest to recreate when the tape's rolling, but Man of Two Visions comes close enough to hammer home the central strength of the group – their ability to fuse classic rock with classic metal and classic doom. It's The Scorpions' In Trance and all of the essential Thin Lizzy records mixed with the first two Iron Maiden albums and leavened with a crushing dose of Pentagram and St Vitus. Wait, does that mean this Man of Two Visions is a classic? You bet your ass it is."-Arzgarth
(StonerRock.com)

"Valkyrie is where 70’s hard rock, 70’s Southern rock, early NWOBHM and DC doom all collide into a sonic supernova. Two among the most fulfilling tracks are the great “Apocalypse Unsealed” and the title track “Man of Two Visions”. Both tracks manage to recall Thin Lizzy, The Outlaws and Iron Maiden all at one time and are of mammoth proportions. Imagine the tension/release of the best epic Maiden tracks and mind-blowing guitar work visited in a 70’s rock fashion. I’d say that the brother’s best work, however, is contained in “The Gorge”. This is a friggin’ delight to listen to. The brothers appear to channel ghosts past from the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains, whose pickin’ and strummin’ put smiles on the faces of folks even in the worst of times. There’s nothing like classic acoustic folk to capture the soul of the South and that the Adams brothers are so freaky talented with any instrument that has strings is a bonus. They could put out a whole album of this stuff and I’d listen to the magic on a daily basis, no shitting you." -Chris Barnes (Hellride Music)

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