Pharaoh - Bury The Light (2012)

Full Length, Cruz Del Sur Music
February 24th, 2012

Genre: Power Metal
Region: USA

Not sure how well that last Pharaoh post went over but fuck it — here's their newest album Bury The Light.

A nice even spread of medium pace and blazing tracks fill up this album which just falls shy of 50 minutes. Stacked to the clouds with heavy melodic shredding retaining the edge of conservatism in terms of technicality, dips into acoustic territory, raspy powerful vocals that have a rare touch of cynic-like modulation in two tracks, strong bass presence right beside the dazzling guitars that holds its own and bubbles over the guitar on occasion, while the drums are a little far back but still strong.

In general the songs are more hit and miss here than on previous releases in my opinion, almost every odd number track is quite good with the exception of the latter half of the album which plays through more smoothly, far more solid in terms of impact. There are still some great tracks with catchy riffs and some awesome solos exuding that classic grand atmosphere you would expect.

Another solid entry into their category. On the first listen Bury The Light is more tame and slightly less memorable than Be Gone or The Longest Night but there's still some nice shredding to be heard. It's up for streaming until the end of the week over here and can be preordered on various formats on the labels store starting tomorrow. No doubt this will be a post that gets taken down before any others by the label/band so get it while you can

DOWNLOAD (Mediafire)

Pharaoh - Be Gone (2008)

Full Length, Cruz Del Sur Music
April 24th, 2008

Genre: Power Metal/Heavy Metal
Region: USA

You guys may have noticed that absolutely no power metal has been posted on Equivoke (much to the relief of most of you I suspect). I'm sure if there have ever been any purists, elitists, strict old-schoolers, etc. that have stumbled upon this blog they were probably irritated by the lack of trueness and left quickly to do write up on how hipsters are ruining metal.

First: this isn't a post to appease cunts like that. Second: truthfully I was never a huge fan of power metal. I always found it to be far too cheesy and filled with pseudo-epic wank, and while I like bands such as Falconer, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth and Sabaton I do not listen to the genre much nor do I enjoy it nearly as much as other genres. Pharaoh (like Falconer) are a band in the genre I've always had a soft spot for though.

As on previous releases the writing is very solid and complex on Be Gone. Lyrical themes run the gamut of fantasy and war situations and there are some excellent technical, melodic and memorable riffs and brilliant solos spread throughout with a healthy dose of restraint on their skills, so as to not fall into overblown wank. A quality that is much appreciated. The amount of cheese is minimal (no keyboards), the vocals are raspy while retaining the Iron Maiden-esque style, production is great, etc. Be Gone is an impressive entry in a genre that is often neglected, managing to retain the key elements while injecting some new life into the style with great results.

This is one of those posts that will probably be very unpopular based on the genre alone but I'd encourage you to give Be Gone a spin. You can listen to it in full on bandcamp. Pharaoh have put out some quality shit, and they have a new album out in a few weeks titled Bury The Light which is one reason I was prompted to post this up. You can pick this up over at the label's page if you like what you hear.

DOWNLOAD (Mediafire)