Amulet — The First

Here we have the debut album from Amulet, a five piece band out of London, formed in 2010.  They haven’t been around long but already there’s a buzz about this band and rightly so.  If there is a band more firmly entrenched in the NWOBHM sound they would certainly be Amulet.  As a side note, three of the five members are writers for Iron Fist magazine.  Raising the flag of British heavy metal high, they have already received accolades for the integrity and focus.

Amulet stay true to their early heavy metal roots with songs that are short (averaging between 2 and 4 minutes) and heavy.  Thirteen songs are featured here; honestly it’s a bit of a mixed bag.  There are melodic, riff laden pieces; “Evil Cathedral” and “Sacrifice” and thrashy head banging anthems like “Bloody Night” and “Trip Forever”.  One of the best songs here is “Talisman” a spectacular instrumental if you’ve ever heard one; full of sweet guitar solos, throbbing bass, thunderous drums and abundant heaviness.
Not that everything else on the debut is terrible.  In fact it’s full of brilliant guitar solos, interesting time changes and wonderfully magical/mystical lyrics.  The only downside is it does sound a bit samey.  The musicianship is tremendous but it would have been a boost to hear some passion.  At times they are so precise it gets a bit humdrum.  I can’t help thinking Amulet is band that might best be experienced in a live setting. 

Overall Amulets debut is a good one.  At times it does feel like it’s just a tribute to the afore mentioned NWOBHM, you can hear the Angel Witch(vocally reminiscent of Kevin Heybourne) and Iron Maiden influences in just about every song, with exception for the short instrumental “The Flight” which seems so out of place here with its prog like keyboards one wonders how it made it on the album. 
Time will tell if future releases will find Amulet venturing past their NWOBHM (which isn’t a bad thing) worship and finding their own sound.  Solid, proud and heavy, to anyone born after 1986 this will sound like the best thing ever, to anyone who started listening to metal in the early 80’s, this will be a reminder of the greatness of classic heavy metal.