Darker Than Black, the latest offering from CAGE, surprised me a little bit; I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did. I've been spreading the word on this band in news articles and now have my hands on their second record. Get ready for some true metal born out of the JUDAS PRIEST and MANOWAR molds.
"Kill The Devil" opens this record sounding high Priest like and the lows that singer Richard Carr supplies. He goes from melodic to raspy and all over. Those old Metal Church fans could also dig what these guys are trying to do. "Chupacabra" does seem to have more death metal tones in the traditional metal style. You will also note the band is solid and the guitars are definitely worth a look.
"Blood Of The Innocent" travels down a more Iron Maiden laden road. More emphasis on the guitars and the tribal Indian like sounds were cool. Agent Steel fans may like the thrash. "Eyes Of Obsidian" travels a more darker road and the chunky heavy is here. Some great melodies will be heard deeper in the mix. "March Of The Cage" definitely is the bands battle song, but is reminiscent of Manowar meets Yngwie!
It would be safe to say KING DIAMOND and black metal influenced "White Magic"; It’s very traditional metal, in the vein of the early 80s metal bands. "Secret Of Fatima" is another that has a good amount of progression and pure metal. It continues on with a US bonus track here. "Forces Of Freedom" blares out screaming the aftermath of the Twin Towers and the attacks of 9-11. A true American metal anthem and it blesses the forces and those defending the USA. Cage are definitely and American band to check into. I'm sure even better is to come
