Leviticus - The Strongest Power [Ektro Records - 2013]From 1985 The Strongest Power was the 4th album from Swedish Christian/white metal band Leviticus. This 2013 reissue appears on Ektro Records (which is of course run by Jussi Lehtisalo of celebrated Finish experimental rock/ multi genre band Circle & many other projects). The three piece project formed in 1981, and took their name from The Book of Leviticus- which is the third book in the Hebrew bible. The project started off as symphonic metal band, with the standard metal instruments been joined by Roland synthesizer guitar and Moog Taurus pedals. But by the time they got to The Strongest Power, the bands sound was a mixture of: anthemic euro tinged 80’s heavy metal/ rock, with hints of slightly heavy NWOBHM influence. With a few tracks featuring a mid eighties US keyboard tinged Rock/ metal feel, and some very slight touches of 80’s new wave/ post punk edges.
The original album featured in all ten tracks, and these run for the fairly standard metal song length of three to five mintues a piece. This reissue sadly does add on any extra tracks- so all we have here is the album original ten tracks. As one would expect the songs are littered with Christian themes, bible quoting & faith based lyrics, but beyond this novelty element the tracks are fairly memorable & rewarding slices of 80’s metal. Sure you can hear influences from bigger metal acts of the time, but there’s enough originality here to make this album enjoyable from beginning to end. This reissue comes with a glossy inlay booklet (similar to ones that came with Thor Ektro reissues). The eight page booklet features pictures of the band ( in their 80’s metal glory), & quotes from few reviews of the band/album( by all accounts Kerrang loved the record). so it's not the most informative or lengthy of reissue inlay booklet, but it’s satisfy enough. So if you enjoy fairly memoroble yet a slightly cheesy 80’s metal with the added novelty of Christian focused lyrics, The Strongest Power is well worth picking up. Roger Batty
|