WARLOCK A.D. are due to make their festival debut in nearly a month’s time; to give you a taste of what to expect, they released their first chapter Book I: The Resurrection. It’s a collection of their tales about their many adventures across the infinite multiverse. Prepare yourselves for a mighty quest with this new group of charismatic warriors.
The album starts off with 109AD and Fall Of Aefintyr. 109AD is an atmospheric instrumental that makes me think of steam punk, this transitions smoothly into the Fall Of Aefintyr. Fall Of Aefintyr contains brilliant song writing and it keeps you on your toes. NANOWAR OF STEEL come to mind instantly when experiencing the chaos this track beholds.
Book I: The Resurrection is an interesting record. If you are new to the band and not quite sure to expect, it can take a couple of listens to get into the record. Once you start to embrace the silliness and chaos this album beholds, you don’t want to look back.
Mead The Parents is great fun that will allow you to be merry. BROTHERS OF METAL track The Mead Song comes to mind when experiencing this track. TEAM RECORDER’s Sarah Jeffery playing well-known nursery rhyme among adds to the comical merriment in this song. See if you can guess what nursery rhyme it is.
Skyrimming captures the essence of Skyrim; Whiteacre the Mighty Warlock explains in an interview that they had seen the rise of the dragonborn and this can be heard throughout the track. It’s majestic and grand as it’s inspiration. Hearing snippets of the Skyrim theme did give me chills as it’s one of my favourite themes. They invited fellow warrior in the form of BATTLE BORN’s Jack Reynolds to provide guest vocals for this track and it works here.
The Golden Halls Of Lochnagar has a MEMORIES OF OLD-esque melody. The deep tones showcasing lyrics such as “my children had beards as big as mine” suggest it is using seriousness to disguise truly comical lyrical content. This works well for this track.
It ends on The Coming Of Bol Saix which I can describe as a Power Metal fan’s dream track. It contains everything from the falsetto scream and battle chants to riffs and solos that every air musician can practice along to.
This was my first experience of WARLOCK A.D. and it certainly won’t be the last. It took me a while to get into the sound at first but the more I listen to it, the more I grow to like it. My only criticism I would have to say is that sometimes to the vocals do get lost within the music but other than that, it’s a great debut.
It will also be intriguing to see how their sound develops over the next tales they embark upon. Don’t take my word for it; this is something you really need to experience for yourselves.
Rating: 8/10
Words: Lotty Whittingham
Book I: The Resurrection is available now.
Find WARLOCK A.D. on Facebook or in a realm across the multiverses.
