It is not normal for us to review an album months after its release, but I’ve never been called normal, have I? This album was originally slated to receive the Things You Might Have Missed treatment, but some records simply demand the full-meal deal. This is one of those records.
I lie in restless sleep, dreaming dreams of untold sadness, when suddenly, I’m startled awake. I draw my dagger and prepare to strike out against the hooded presence that has entered my chamber. The intruder makes neither sound nor movement, and a moment’s hesitation is enough for me to intuit that the presence means me no harm. I sheath the dagger as I slowly stand to face my visitor. The figure lowers its hood, and I now stand face to face with a tall man with twelven features. He speaks: ‘2023 is dying. The Shadow is upon us, Holdeneye. The end has come.’ With a dramatic flourish, the man whips aside his cloak to produce a promo housed within an ornate leather scabbard. He offers it to me. I take the precious gift, and after a brief pause, I draw the promo and hold it before me. ‘Towers of Gold, by Sacred Outcry, forged in Greece,’ the man says. Then, with a startling sense of urgency, he peers deep into my eyes and places upon me the following charge: ‘Put aside the underrater. Become who you were born to be.’ My eyes narrow in resolution. I know what must be done.
Full disclosure: I lobbied Twelve pretty hard to be able do this, and with all the grace of an elven sage, he relented, encouraging me to have my way with Towers of Gold. My numerical friend covered Sacred Outcry’s long-overdue 2020 debut and included it on his year-end list that year, but he admitted that this new one wasn’t hitting him as hard. And I totally understand that. This version of Sacred Outcry didn’t immediately impress me either, and as a power metal concept album that clocks in at about 55-minutes long, the album is a slow burner that takes time to work its magic upon the listener. But I’m here to tell you that much like the mysterious forces animating the titular towers in its story, this album will ensnare you if you let it.
Picking an embedded track has been an arduous task. Towers of Gold is a thrilling adventure that begs to be taken in as a whole, and as such, any individual song cannot hope to represent the album’s majesty on its own. So, as usual, I’ve done the foolish thing; I’ve embedded the 15-minute title track for your listening pleasure. This album is a quest, and the title track its climax. Channeling the epic longform glory of bands like Iron Maiden, Iced Earth, Symphony X, and Kamelot, “Towers of Gold” tells its Howard-meets-Lovecraft fantasy-horror tale using a mixture of tempos and styles. You can almost smell the existential dread coming off the story’s main character as they realize how incredibly fucked they are, and it reminds me of the time I got my ill-equipped and under-powered party lost within Durlag’s Tower in the expansion to the first Baldur’s Gate. The track has more twists and turns than a labyrinthine dungeon, and it will undoubtedly be my Song o’ the Year.
I haven’t even mentioned Sacred Outcry’s most potent weapon yet: the vocal talents of one Daniel Heiman (Dimhav, Warrior Path, ex-Lost Horizon, ex-Heed). After the band’s debut, sole remaining original member and chief songwriter George Apalodimas found himself replacing every other person in the band, and I have to say that he did a masterful job. Apalodimas’ music is already top-tier, but with Heiman wailing over the top, it ascends to godhood. Aside from the barn-burning first proper track (“The Flame Rekindled”), much of Towers of Gold tends towards the more mid-paced and moody—not something that most people look for in their power metal. But with Heiman’s divine vocal abilities, even the more standard tunes become legendary. On its surface “The Voyage” is a pretty by-the-numbers power metal track, while “Symphony of the Night” and “The Sweet Wine of Betrayal” are both dark ballads, and they all become album highlights (on an album full of highlights) thanks to Heiman’s dynamic delivery. I just can’t overstate how great he is on this record.
It is without one single ounce of hesitation that I place upon Towers of Gold the highest honor that is within my right to bestow.1 With this masterpiece, Sacred Outcry (5acred.0utcry) have created an album that I anticipate will still be in my rotation several centuries from now when my consciousness is just one small upload on the great hard drive of humanity.2 Stated simply, it’s one of the greatest albums I’ve ever heard, regardless of genre. Now, having won the day and redeemed the year, I go to my fathers,3 Happy Metal Guy and Swordborn, in whose mighty company I shall not now feel ashamed.
Rating: 5.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: No Remorse Records
Websites: sacredoutcry.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/sacredoutcry
Releases Worldwide: May 19th, 2023
