Glamour Of The Kill

The Summoning

Written by: BL on 01/09/2011 19:06:05

Hailing from York, British quartet Glamour Of The Kill's are clearly hoping to nail a spot in the UK metal limelight with their debut album "The Summoning". It promises more anthemic choruses with big vocals, swashbuckling duelling guitars riffs, blazing solos and hardcore breakdowns. Having put out two previous EPs, where my memory only actually having some recollection about the last self-titled one, Glamour Of The Kill seem to have no aim of deviating from their usual formula of mixing more retro heavy metal with an 80s twist, and one variation of modern metalcore. That variation being the same kind UK peers Bullet For My Valentine have made a whole career from. Indeed you'd be forgiven for thinking that Glamour Of The Kill sounded a bit too much like them on their last effort, well that is even more the case here on "The Summoning" as there are glaring similarities aplenty.

The opening two tracks in "If Only She Knew"and "World's End" give the newcomers a clear taste of what Glamour Of The Kill are all about, and that taste is cheesy throughout. Bullet For My Valentine style riffs which set the scenes until frontman/guitar player Davey Richmond starts singing. He has a very distinctive tone in that he sounds very young, almost in the whiny region, which has a stark contrast to the metallic guitar play of this kind and is definitely something that is hit or miss I feel depending on your personal preference. The chorus here is simplistic and designed to be memorable and catchy while the interconnecting guitar play feels adequately well thought out in their desired style. A fairly pedestrian breakdown thrown into the mix towards the end a few times seems like an almost token offering to the heavier fans out there though fortunately isn't too obtrusive. "World's End" in many ways while very similar to the opener, has a far heavier verse full of aggressive screaming before the cleans come back for the chorus and showcases the mildly darker side of the band.

"Feeling Alive" is probably the first highlight of the album despite sounding rather casual with somewhat bare and simplistic guitar work, its chorus has an annoyingly infectious quality to it that kind of stays in your mind without you being full aware of it. "Dying From The Inside" brings more screamed verses to the cheesefest, but is mostly only noteworthy for the decent intro guitars and the glaring Killswitch Engage-esque bridge section. "Lost Souls" is another catchy number like "Feeling Alive" with some cool solo guitars here and there though like many of the other songs so far, is pretty formulaic. "Malevolent Reign" is a non descript acoustic song that kind of stops the flow a bit abruptly and feels largely pointless unfortunately. "Supremacy" is once again heavy though and has a 'dirtier vibe with some lower vocals (the kind Metallica have) though largely feels like the first two songs mashed together. By the time we get to the last third of the album, "Here, Behind These Walls" is probably the best of the repetitive bunch, getting the cheesy guitars and vocals to sound just right with a distinctively playful yet aggressive approach. "Through The Eyes Of The Broken" and "Army Of The Dead" are largely more of the same kind of stuff as before, maybe some cool tapped guitar here, some corny solos there, lots of silly lyrics as standard though I kind of like the chorus of the latter.

The final and album titled song is half acoustic, and like "Malevolent Reign" threatens to bore with the generic acoustics and vocals - sounding more like Nickelback if anything. But even when the distorted guitars return the song still never really takes off and feels lacklustre in closing. Which is kind of the problem with "The Summoning" on the whole, no matter how fun orientated the album might feel at the start, it starts running out of steam by the end and you kind of get the feeling there's a lot of rehashing going on, especially with how all the choruses manage to sound so similar, the Bullet For My Valentine guitaring similarities, and the bad, bad lyrics. All in all, while the album isn't downright terrible, there's nothing too good nor glamorous about it either.

Download: Feeling Alive, 'Here, Behind These Walls', Army Of The Dead
For the fans of: Bullet For My Valentine, Black Veil Brides, Bullet For My Valentine
Listen: Myspace

Release Date 24.01.2011
Siege of Amida Records

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