Review | All For Metal – Legends

AFM Records

I openly admit to have surpassed this release if it wasn’t for Antonio Calanna being one of the (two) vocalists. This Italian singer impressed me when performing with DeVicious and I truly mourned his departure from the German band. His wide range and enormous energy makes for pleasure and I am eager to find out how he fits into the sonic specter with true metal project All For Metal, which sees him counterparted by Asenblut’s roaring Tim ‘Tetzel’ Schmidt, founder of All For Metal. The pictures in this EPK are what made me prejudice to whether or not to review this album.

WHAT TO EXPECT?

As with all prejudice; you need to never judge a book by its cover.

Well, that doesn’t apply to All For Metal’s `Legends’ album. It simply is the jacket that unveils exactly what to expect. Metal masks and body armor, chains and leather, smeared war paint faces, and a Brothers Of Metal vibe that makes Manowar look pale. It is all there in abundance. 

Hammering the anvil, metal sparks fly from the opening ,,All for Metal” onwards. Tetzel’s raw growling thunder is balanced by Calanna’ appealing wide register. The blunt force inflicted morphs due to the Italian master, and the song benefits from his range and energy. Where Tetzel leans strongly on narrative spoken rough ‘n growl, Antonia Calanna brings the vibrant melodics to the front. The riff download is aligning with the expected Manowar-ish pace and poise, and guitarists Jasmin Pabst and Ursula Zanichelli find themselves backed by a powerful groove laid down by Leif Jensen (drums) and Florian Toma (bass). Though All For Metal circulates around the vocal dynamics, the guitars are splendid and may not be overlooked as they make the songs flourish musically. 

TOO MUCH CLICHÉS

The melodic ravishing ,,Goddess of War” makes inevitably clear that this project fluctuates around clichés without subduing an original approach with the interaction between Tim and Antonio. 

Lyrically and in terms of text it is all cliché-laden to the max. ,,Raise Your Hammer”, what to say? Great track nevertheless, it goes down with too much clichés and true metal clinchers.

Though predictable to the max, ,,Born in Valhalla” is a great melodic metal track that benefits from Calanna’s wonderful melodic range and energy. It is Tetzel that diminishes the sheer joy of the song with his guttural belted lyric fragments, even though he adds better sinister roar as counter balance to Antonio. The interaction is working well when Schmidt only adds short bursts of this growl, like on ,,Run”, or the high paced melodic cracker ,,Fury of the Gods”. When Tetzel takes the helm, I cringe frequently and I’m glad the harmonies make up the lost melodic terrain like on ,,Hear the Drum”. He is not a singer like Calanna and should refrain from the dominance in the spotlight. 

VOCAL INTERACTION

Preceded by a colorful narrative, ,,Mountain of Power” ploughs forward with great vocal interaction between Calanna and the female voice added. The brute chants and growls of Tetzel are in place to emphasize the true metal spirit packed. It is well-dosed, empowering my previous findings. ,,The Day of Hammerfall” is another wonderful track displaying working interaction as Calanna is at the helm steering the song with his intense vocal delivery and Tetzel adding only short bursts of power. It just gels better when a melodic metal song is sung by a singer.

The album is closed on a glorious note with the melodic epic slow mover ,,Legends Never Die”, displaying the musical finesse and Calanna’s excellent melodic vocals and clean pitches.

ALL FOR METAL – THE CONCLUSION

`Legends’ is a solid album packed with clichés, but highly enjoyable. Unfortunately, the pleasure is somewhat limited with Schmidt’s raw growling tone when he takes the front, but in combination with Calanna it works a lot better. All For Metal is announced to perform at several metal festivals during the summer leap. I’m convinced they will raise fists and intensify the atmosphere in metal-walhalla’s such as Wacken, but I especially look forward to see Calanna performing. 

Ow, and it’s time for Tim Schmidt to invest in his pronunciation if they aim for glory outside of Germany. His accent is so strong it makes me chuckle… but don’t tell him. He’s ten-foot-tall and packs more power and muscles than Thor himself.

Release date: 7 July 2023