“Ever since hearing the Ivanhoe albums way back in the late 90s, I’ve been a huge fan of Andy B. Franck’s vocals. He has pipes that could only be destined for a life fronting a metal band, though he possesses the range to do virtually any kind of music. His slightly proggy, but hyper-accessible albums with Symphorce are always in rotation at Casa de la Druhm, as are his many releases with traditional metal act Brainstorm. The latter are especially tasty, blending Judas Priest’s Painkiller era with the punch and crunch of American power metal like Iced Earth and Pantera, then layering in a plethora of earwormy vocal hooks and monumental, anthemic choruses that cannot be forgotten. Albums like Mentus Mortis, Soul Temptation and Liquid Monster are nearly perfect examples of pure heavy metal and whenever I spin them for someone unacquainted, they wonder how they could have missed the boat.” Intrigued yet?
