Sanhedrin - Heat Lightning Review • Strah

Two things before I start. The first is that this is definitely the year of Old School Heavy Metal releases, they are back banging! The second is it has been some time since I haven’t listened to an album so good, but so good that it touches the hands of perfection. “Heat Lightining” is a lesson of how Old School Heavy Metal can be reinvented without the fan with that taste of “heard it before.”

It suprises the fact that Sandhedrin are a trio, because the music in here is so intense and performed in a whole that it is almost impossible to have been done by only three musicians. Of course, the modern recording resources allow any band without a tonload of dollars to record a perfect album, but that’s not what I mean. I mean the feeling the fan gets with “Heat Lightining” is of a whole experimentation. Erica Stoltz, vocals and bass, Jeremy Sosville, guitars and vocals, and Nathan Honor, drums & percussion do beyond their best to give the fan this feeling. Some say they are power trios. Well, let Motörhead and Rush, for instance have a say.

“Heat Lightining” commences with the stunning “Blind Wolf” whose guitar riffing is really such a thing using the downpicking technique – this technique gives the fan an overwhelming impression where the guitar sounds to be everywhere. Another highlight to the guitar riffing of “When the Will Becomes the Chain” which uses a repetition technique to make it sound so overwhelming as well. One has to be creative and resourceful to fill all the musical blanks a trio could have with their music. My first impression with “Blind Wolf” was to be similiar to Judas Priest’s intro “The Hellion,” but soon I realized it was only an impression. I am obliged to highlight guitarist Jeremy Sosville’s work here because he is responsible for much of the overwhelming feeling I had not only with the rhythm, but also with the leads. Album warmer “Heat Lightining” cools down a little in the beginning, but soon the aforementioned overwhelming feeling comes and everything changes. A highlight here to Erica Stoltz’s bass lines that help to fill the musical blanks. It is not easy to sing and play. “Above the Law” is the hardest hitting track of the album with no shadow of doubt. It may be inspired on Saxon’s modern era. It also proves Sandhedrin can leave their prowness and be simple and raw if they want to. The chorus part has something of Accept and their prone to chant.

Sandhedrin are the kind of band that I would love to see alive performing all their intensity and technique. I guess it would be the kind of show I would not stand still. No one would. The energy the band sweats is remarkable in addition to all the technique the trio exhales. Old School Heavy Metal with style, lots of style.

Sandhedrin “Blind Wolf” will be released on Marh 14th via Metal Blade Records.

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