JOHN PERINBAM - Knightfall (CD)

John Perinbam may not be a name you know, but this album should definitely change this. John has previously recorded two albums with Canadian metal band Ivory Knight. The second album was produced by Annihilator guitarist Jeff Waters, and even though the albums were pretty good they didn’t hit me all that much. Now John’s going solo, and he’s doing it with the aforementioned Waters handling guitars and bass on the album. Some additional vocals are added by fellow Annihilator member Dave Padden and ex-Exciter Dan Beehler, while former Ivory Knight colleague Rob Gravelle plays guitar. A great combination of people indeed. It feels like all the pieces have come together perfectly this time. John has a great powerful voice which fits the music like a glove and he switches seamlessly between clean and melodic vocals to a harsh and rough vocal persona. John’s solo debut is filled to the brim with great powerful, yet quite catchy metal. Stylewise I’d place the album in the same category as Megadeth on “Countdown To Extinction” (their best album in my opinion), Annihilator or Riot in their more metal era. The mix is really dry and tight and the guitars are in your face, but without overpowering. I really love that. Some songs like “Away” and “Not Enough Too Much” are actually quite melodic and should even have a mainstream appeal, while stuff like “The Shepherd” or “Inferno 2008” are full on riff metal at its best. This is a highly recommended piece of killer Canadian metal (even though John was born in Scotland).

Janne Stark

Country: Canada

Year: 2009

Label: private

Buy it here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/perinbam