Search - Defender :: They Come Over the High

Classic Metal Reborn!

Mark Morton | Boyertown, PA USA | 09/08/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Is it I, or is there a shortage of true, honest, meat & potatoes Metal out there today? Everyone either has a gimmick, or they flaunt their playing ability, rather than doing what they do for the sake of the Metal! Defender seems to know exactly what I'm talking about. What they've done on They Came Over The High Pass was looked to the past for a possible future. The music on the disc is nothing short of blood-pumping, fist-banging battle hymns! Beginning the album with what may mislead you into thinking it was going to be Black Metal music (the intro being wind blowing, labored breathing, and the sounds of mountain-climbing or someone painstakingly stomping through snow - kind of like an old BATHORY album), Defender instantly dissolves any anticipation of blitzkrieg onslaughts. Rather, they aim right for the heart and come barreling through your ears with the sounds of IRON MAIDEN-like anthems, minus any `air-raid sirens'! The IRON MAIDEN reference holds true for most of the album, as Defender has managed to fuse a Somewhere In Time-ish songwriting style with a delivery and vocal performance rings of earlier Killers-era material. But Defender is by no means a bunch of plagiarists, for they harness this influence and weave in Ancient folk underpinnings that give the tracks a unique, mystical vibe. Throw in fantasy-styled lyrics and you have an album of odes, or tributes to mythical legends of times long past, like Gilgamesh, Beowulf, Jason, Sinbad, Väinämöinen and even Finrod Felagund. They Came Over The High Pass is truly an inspiration and a glimmer of hope, revealing that the marriage of the `old' with the `new' can create something magical and memorable for fans of all walks of Metal!"