Check these points out! (If your German is rusty, read the Google translation below the link!)
Saksasta.
Rating: 9/10
Arched Fire play a really brilliant mix of speed/thrash, US metal, traditional heavy metal and power metal. And they don’t come from the States or England, no, they come from…Lapland. The band’s roots go back to the early 90’s as schoolboys. It really started in 2021 with the debut album “Remote Control” and now, two years later, the follow-up “Trust Betrayal” is coming out. Many influences, ranging from East Coast Thrash to Exciter to Accept, Judas Priest and Primal Fear, make the band really fun. And amazingly, singer Kristian Herkman varies in pitch and aggressiveness during the songs.
The opener “Fear” goes straight through as a flawless speed thrasher. Short and concise shout chorus, as well as iron-hard riffing by the two guitarists Janne Särkelä and Ari Väntänen create an overkill atmosphere.
This contrasts with Kristian’s clear vocals, which one could almost associate with the early Stormwitch. “Pestilence” also comes with a decent Thrash edge, but much rougher vocals. The following “Narcissist” is reminiscent of Priest’s “Painkiller” at the beginning, but allows for the first Power Metal traits alongside all the Thrash moments. Sort of a cool mix of Judas Priest and East Coast Thrash.
One shouldn’t forget to mention that singer Kristian Herkman often integrates high-pitched screams. Some passages here almost land on King Diamond level and also one or the other song like “Mastermind” interspersed with mystically dark sounds delivers Mercyful Fate bonds. One of the standout songs though is “Blind Faith”. An absolute high-end Thrash hit with an almost punky chorus. No foot stays still during the song. “Oblivion” shines with a super catchy and highly melodic refrain in addition to all the quick joy.
“Self-Backstabbers”, poisoned in the best Dirkschneider manner, the aggressively thrashy “Corporeal Abhorrence Of Entrails” and the massively beating “Wings Of Chrome” are further extremely strong pieces on “Trust Betrayal” and “Artificial Sun” also leave no speed- Thrash wishes open.
One can call Arched Fire a real and unexpected surprise. Even if some cleanly sung passages are not for everyone due to the voice, you can’t hide the fact that you play the record over and over again. The individual songs, which were neither constructed on the drawing board nor copied too much from the established bands, are too strong. The mixture of the music based on speed/thrash works exceedingly well and you should definitely give yourself the rags (sorry…). I’m listening to it again now…..Blind Faith, Blind Faith !!
archedfire.com 