Castle Rat : "Into the Realm"

 

This album dropped back in April and just now catching up to it. I think my reluctance lies in the whole playing dress-up thing and labeling yourself as "fantasy" metal or really anything. I did not fall for it regarding Manowar either. I am all for Red Sonja cosplay and am really confused by the move to perform like this after Butcher Babies started wearing clothes. Ya, know the whole "male gaze" thing and want women to be taken more seriously in metal. I personally do not care, but the whole puritanical slant to the last wave of feminism, which say juxtaposed precariously against the anti-slut shaming thing. I mean I saw Lita Ford blow Yngwie off stage in the 80s and did not really give a whole lot of thought to any of that as a teenager. This is why I am bringing this all up since my teenage years are when I would have enjoyed this band most. 

The first two songs pretty much ran together. It strikes me as being a more jammy cross between Coven and Candlemass. By the second song I am done thinking about the fact her tits may or may not be out while she is singing, since that is the thing about gimmicks, none of it matters when you are just listening to it. King Diamond is awesome sounding even if he was wearing street clothes the whole time. Sure some of the storytelling fits in with his persona, which could also be said of Gwar. This band is not all in like those guys, This could be any vest metal occult rocking band from 2010. The bass tone leading into "Red Sands" was a little clunky, but I like the more psychedelic place the song is going to. Making it the best song thus far. 

For this to be a 9-track album, three of those tracks are interlude pieces leaving only six actual songs, so every minute counts. For a doom band, there is less than a moderate amount of Sabbath worship, but still, some influence from Iommi could be heard. I think the singer's hair is big enough that he might have tried to marry her if these guys came out in the 90s. They also do an effective job on the ballad "Cry For Me", as you can hear that Riley can really sing.  She is also capable of metal shrieks leading into "Fresh Fur". I like the effects on the vocals here, though it obscures the lyrics a bit so I am not sure if it's about her having a 70s bush or something PETA might frown upon. I like the creepy mood of the song. After further listening the song might even be about werewolves, which I am not sure PETA's stance on, there is some gray area there. 

"Nightblood" just kind of walks the middle ground, and meets fantasy stoner expectations, it does not bring as much new to the table as some of the other songs. Overall, she does not need to dress up like Red Sonja, but I am not complaining either, will certainly watch the videos accompanying the release of this album for a better look, it's entertaining, and some strong moments I think they need to lean into more of the psychedelic undercurrents here and smoke more pot while playing D&D. I will give this album a 9. See just because I have an opinion on some points does not mean I don't like it musically, or even thematically. Hell, I might like Jinger better if she dressed like slaves Leia. 

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