Ferrum

Destillery are relative newcomers to the Heavy Metal scene. Hailing from Germany, this band was founded in 1994 and released it's first 5 song E.P. in 1997. The year 1999 saw the release of their first full length album, Immortal Sun for Iron Glory Records followed by Behind The Mask the following year. This band has received good reviews for all it's releases and has even been labeled the German-Iron Maiden by more than one metal magazine. This is a direct result of the vocals of Florian Reiman who has a very Bruce Dickinson style of vocal delivery and the use of very thematic guitar harmony passages with very abrupt tempo changes. The band also consists of Daniel Hartelt (guitar), Roland Smigerski (guitar), Mark Brudigam (bass) and Lars Janosch (drums). This band has a more classic Heavy Metal sound to them and even though most other magazines refer to their style as Power Metal, their sound doesn't really have many of the typical Power Metal stylings. Most tracks feature a good mix of tempos with a great fat power-chord guitar sound very much like Iced Earth. With the song arrangements, each track creates an air of excitement as you just don't know what's coming next. This band is good at creating atmosphere through the use of Maiden style guitar harmonies and other riffing styles similar to bands such as Megadeth, Metallica and even Mercyful Fate. Some of the tracks feature a very Maiden like sound, but because of the heavier style, actually sounds more like some of Bruce Dickinson's solo work on Accident Of Birth or Chemical Wedding. The repetitive nature of some of the guitar harmonies and their reappearance throughout some of the songs is a classic Maiden approach to songwriting. The Real features a slower Mercyful Fate like riff and contains some very cool and abstract tempo changes throughout with excellent riffing and a very strong chorus. Born By The Fierce Current features some very typical Iced Earth style riffs with some great tempo changes, more guitar harmonies and some great instrumental work mid-song. On Whenever, a more power ballad style, Florian Reiman actually sounds a bit like Tobias Sammett from Edguy with his vocal style. A nice acoustic intro leads into a series of different tempo changes and again some very thematic riffing.Creed contains some ripping Iced Earth style power chording and some nice harmony guitar passages combined with a mix of different speeds. This track uses the "gang vocal" style that Maiden has made famous on tracks like Heaven Can Wait and Fear Of The Dark. Sorry guys, up to this point, Maiden was only seen as an influence, but this track is a little too close for comfort! I like this band. They've taken their influences and used them to try to create their own sound. Using elements of the sound from bands such as Iron Maiden and Iced Earth is a good start for any band wanting to play a more classic Heavy Metal sound. I see lots of potential and I feel that this band hasn't peaked yet. Sure the Maiden comparisons are there, but they're not meant to be criticisms. Very few bands that attempt to use heavy Maiden influences actually pull it off the way this band does. They're also a lot darker and heavier much like Angel Dust and even have some of the complexities of Nevermore. Everything sounds great and they have a very good original sound (except for the gang vocals on Creed....sorry to bring that up again guys!!). They write very dramatic and thematic songs but their writing style needs a little polish to bring out the full potential of this band. From what I've read from other reviews, this is their strongest album to date and as long as they continue the progression, keep working hard at their sound and songwriting, this band is going to be one to watch for in the future.