In an age when heavy metal has been nearly subgenred to death, it’s refreshing as hell to hear a young band playing straight-up metal with no narrow- minded qualifiers or categories in earshot. On their full-length debut, Salt Lake City’s Visigoth deliver the real-deal old-school goods with power and swagger to spare, invoking the likes of early Dio (“Dungeon Master”), Di’ Anno-era Iron Maiden (“Blood Sacrifice”), and maybe even a touch of Riot (“Creature of Desire”). The nearly 10-minute closer “From the Arcane Mists of Prophecy” should make even the most jaded of headbangers raise their fists and yell.
DAN EPSTEIN