Review | Warlord – The Lost Archangel

High Roller Records

Having totally overlooked the release `Free Spirit Soar’ of Warlord, I had to amend and set things right as the new album’s release date was drawing near rapidly. With `The Lost Archangel’, the band once again proves why their name is etched in the realms of epic heavy metal. This isn’t simply another chapter in their encyclopedia of Heavy Metal, it’s a resurrection, a celebration to the band’s enduring legacy. The album fuses newly minted tracks, reimagined gems, and live renditions, all woven together by the band’s trademark melodic extravagance and exquisite musical marksmanship.

A MASTERCLASS IN MELODIC STORYTELLING

From the opening martial stride of ,,Golgotha (The Place of the Skull)”, Warlord’s close-harmony guitar playing immediately seizes the spotlight, laying down a foundation that is commanding and richly intricate. Eric Juris and Diego Pires, through their elegant interplay, channel the spirit of Bill Tsamis’s vision. Every riff and solo executed with surgical precision and emotional depth, every melody and lick doubled up in harmonious mastery. The wonder of the close harmony playing is elemental for the band’s sound. The arrangements never feel cluttered; instead, they breathe within the texture, allowing each melodic phrase to shine.

,,Stygian Passage” is a masterclass in melodic storytelling. Here, the twin guitars are bright and clear, intertwining lines, supported by a rhythm section that is both tight and dynamic. Mark Zonder’s drumming, with its tasteful jazz-infused fills, adds a layer of sophistication, deploying daunting drum hooks and intricate rhythmic variations. Elemental tom runs anchor the polyrhythms into a powerful groove. The term ‘percussive novellas’, once used to describe Neil Peart’s (Rush) sonic deep playing, applies to Zonder’s impressive rhythmic narrative, which elevates the band’s powerful phrasing. He truly steps beyond with his performance.

Heavier and more progressive, ,,Night of the Fury” weaves time changes and powerful hooks into a metal blend rich with melody. The harmony guitars soar and intertwine, delivering the kind of intense, tightly knit melodies that are benchmark for Warlord’s epic sound, while the song echoes Zonder’s most-progressive playing and Fates Warning momentum, circa `Parallels’.

THE MELODIC CORE OF THE ALBUM

The album’s melodic core is amplified by Giles Lavery’s commanding vocal presence. His varied performance is electrifying, inflating each track with authentic power and emotion. Especially on the impressively powerful belted ,,Golgotha”, his soaring delivery on `Lost Archangel’, and the alternating power surges of ,,Enemy Mind”. Lavery’s voice rides atop the melodic turbulence, delivering choruses that are anthemic and haunting, with vibrato and phrasing immediately gripping. It’s impressive how he navigates the intricate constructions of Warlord’s music, his range fully explored and gaining momentum with every track.

,,The Rainbow”, the reimagined demo-relic from the early eighties, showcases Warlord’s ability blending weeping melancholy with powerful melodic grandeur. Clean arpeggiated guitars and folk-infused melodies build into a heavy power ballad of epic proportions, climaxing with its Black Sabbath-esque gloom and droning low heaviness nodding to classic doom. The harmony guitars add layers of emotional resonance, the rich and anthemic sound towering as the band discharges their entire arsenal of heavy metal guitar wizardry. Touching 80s and 90s shred massacre like Cacophony’s ,,Lift Off!”, without losing the classic accolades of benchmark heavy metal, it’s simply jaw-dropping. It processes their ability to cross border while it also emphasizes the timelessness of Bill’s vision.

Pushing even further, ,,70,000 Sorrows” opens with towering melodic fretboard wizardry laid atop the soulful, droning bass lines of Bynoe, who adds a rich melodic low end to the impressive grooving interplay. Subtle keyboard work from Waldo supports the song as it progresses with weeping melancholy. Towards its melodic breakdown, the guitar interaction intensifies and soars with swirling pitch and towering magnitude, blending the song’s theme with the Italian protest anthem ,,Bella Ciao”. The guitar lines and melodies are woven into the core, the narrative breeding a unique, soaring melancholy and tempered uproar into a cinematic Grand Finale.

WARLORD IS GROUND-BREAKING

The alignment of Bynoe and Zonder is downright daunting, breathing brisk heaviness and powerful progressive hooks into songs like ,,70,000 Sorrows” and ,,Stygian Passage”. Their live execution is astounding. The foundation they lay is inspiring, lifting the melodies and intense guitar interaction, along with wonderful keys, above reality. As a live quintet, the band injects their performance with noticeable joy, radiating from the recorded classics such as the wonderful ,,Soliloquy” and the ground-breaking epic ,,Lucifer’s Hammer” on the recent 2024 recording, the band not only pays homage to Tsamis’s legacy but injects modern prowess into these timeless tracks. ,,Lucifer’s Hammer” instantly transports me back to my teens, Waldo’s keys adding a new dimension while Juris and Pires blend the classic licks with combined scale runs, bends, and slides. The close harmonies echo for maximum drama, and the solo guitar duel intensifies the thunderous drum and bass interaction. MAJESTIC!

The journey culminates in the heavy, droning ,,Black Mass”, where the band’s epic ambitions and soaring undertones are distilled into a blissful performance. ,,Child of the Damned” tops it all off with its blend of NWOBHM signature melodies and U.S. power metal combustion. It’s good to hear ,,Father” and ,,Glory” from the band’s 2013 European stint featured, contrasting with the powerful present renditions. It displays the leap of sound and production, without losing the dynamics of the performance. Less heavy, more subtle and lighter, they add to the legacy and the album.

WARLORD – THE CONCLUSION

The production on `The Lost Archangel’ is crisp, crystal clear, and perfectly balanced, allowing every instrument its moment in the spotlight. Both the re-recorded classics and the new compositions benefit from a modern sheen, without sacrificing the raw, epic atmosphere that defines the sound of Warlord. The live tracks capture the band’s energy and connection with their audience, rounding out the album as both a retrospective experience and a bold step forward. It all resonates deeply.

`The Lost Archangel’ is not merely a collection of songs; it’s a pilgrimage through the storied past of Warlord and their ever-burning creative fire. With ,,Golgotha”, ,,Stygian Passage” and the title track hailing from Bill Tsamis’ Lordian Guard album, and the 80s demo of ,,The Rainbow” all reimagined by the current line up, the album discloses the musicians’ respect for the band’s legacy and Tsamis’ creative vision being infinite. The exquisite marksmanship of the musicians, the melodic extravagance of the arrangements, and the intense, close-harmony guitars all converge to create an album that is both a gift to loyal fans. Warlord stands tall, with their sword raised, melodies blazing, the archangels of epic metal.

MAJESTIC!

Release date: 27 June 2025