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55,337 posts since 7/17/2002
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Posted on 12/24/2005 at 6:31:07 AM
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Valkyrie – Self Titled Review by John Pegoraro (StonerRock.com) Twin Earth Records Release date: January 2006 Those prematurely old souls in Valkyrie have finally released their debut full length and it’s a doozy. I first heard of this Harrisonburg, VA outfit with their Sunlight Shines EP, a three-song collection of some of the finest Pentagram by way of Hawkwind doom out there. Unlike a good number of their doom contemporaries, Valkyrie guitarists Pete and Jake Adams aren’t afraid to lay down some serious soloing (and if that’s not enough for ya, Kelly Carmichael from Pentagram/Internal Void joins the foursome on “Eternally There”). It seems like every song is aching to explode with some harmonized leads or some back and forth dueling. Valkyrie is doom with oomph, providing the dour vibe but never getting bogged down in plodding riffs. What’s even more impressive is how uncannily they channel that late ‘70’s sound. Some bands rehash the s t y l e of their influences. With Valkyrie, they just play the music as it was back when music wasn’t categorized in 300 different ways, and all that mattered was to plug in and play with conviction and soul. This is an impressive debut. I could see these guys on a tour with the likes of The Hidden Hand and Earthride and holding their own. Great stuff (especially the solos).
URL: http://www.thevalkyrierides.com/
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I`m never going to work another day in my life
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13,667 posts since 12/8/2002
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Posted on 12/24/2005 at 2:52:13 PM
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Jake,send me one goddamit
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3,696 posts since 5/4/2004
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Posted on 12/27/2005 at 6:28:42 PM
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When is this shit comin' out?
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you can go down to mcsuckit and get a suckit meal with an orange soda,
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1,076 posts since 2/21/2004
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Posted on 12/27/2005 at 6:43:58 PM
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it should be in ATH by the end of january at the latest! thanks for the good review Arz!
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13,667 posts since 12/8/2002
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Posted on 12/31/2005 at 2:42:21 PM
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this shit is righteous.
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2,871 posts since 12/15/1999
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Posted on 1/17/2006 at 10:39:46 AM
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Band: Valkyrie
Album: S/T
Format: CD
Label: Twin Earth
Time: 40 Minutes
Year: 2006
Track List:
Withered Tree
Sunlight Shines
Endless Crusade
Wolf Hollow
Secrets of the Mind
Heralds of the Dawn
Eternally There
Lost in the Darkness
Label Site: www.twinearthrecords.com
Band Site: www.thevalkyrierides.com
The band name comes from an obscure 80s album cover by a group called English Dogs, on which green-skinned women ride dragons into battle. Before you roll your eyes, know that this tells only a small portion of the tale of this group of young doomsters, so don't get all serious about it. The fact is, these dudes have done their homework, practiced like hell, and taken themselves just seriously enough to produce a sleeper of a melodic doom LP, straight from the underground to your sweating hands, and jokes about green-skinned women be damned.
These guys have obviously spent alot of time cozying up to their parent's album collections, and it's a good thing their parents had such good taste! I hear echoes of classic Tull and Zep, not to mention plenty of dual lead action that paints images of Maiden and Thin Lizzy. And don't get mad or nothin', but I could swear I hear some ca. 'Yes Album' Steve Howe in there as well. But like Janus, Valkyrie faces both the past and the future; they're not about pure retro at all. There's plenty of musical meat from the likes of Abdullah, Spiritus Mortis, VoodooShock, Wall of Sleep, Spirit Caravan, and Pentagram for carnivorous doomsters to sink their fangs into. Rumor has it that Kelly Carmichael, axe-master of Internal Void and Pentagram, contributes his trademark excellent guitar work to a track.
OK, so far so good. Heavy guitars, lots of melody, high, clean vocals and killer leads. And any band that calls those musical influences to mind has stolen a march on 99% of the dreck out there. I would be remiss in my duties as a reviewer, however, not to tell you how good these guys are live. Actually, good isn't a strong enough word: try smokin'!! As much as I like this disc, it really doesn't hold much of a candle to their live show, which is super-heavy, melodic, professional, and bung-tight. I was privileged to see them at Indy last summer; you really should have been there. I can also tell you that they wrap up the total package by being hellaciously nice guys, knowledgeable about tuneage, and great supporters of the live music community. In other words, they talk it like they walk it, just like all of us should. So listen to their album, but for God's sake get out to one of their shows if they come anywhere near you.
Kevin McHugh
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I`ve weathered the storms, and today is cloudless.
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I'll be getting me one of these here discs!
Sounds great from what I have heard....awesome!
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13,667 posts since 12/8/2002
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Posted on 1/20/2006 at 4:40:28 PM
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the band name comes from an English Dogs album art? The oldest dude is 25 for fucks sake!!!
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4,715 posts since 4/15/2000
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Posted on 1/20/2006 at 6:56:35 PM
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That DVD has been getting a lot of play time in my household.
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Folks back home been eatin` clay and makin` babies as far back as I ca
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13,667 posts since 12/8/2002
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Posted on 1/21/2006 at 4:51:32 PM
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boys ain't fuckin around
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7,643 posts since 3/12/2001
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Posted on 1/23/2006 at 1:24:13 PM
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i look forward to hearing this one
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Lifer scuzzbucket
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2,257 posts since 11/15/2000
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Posted on 1/24/2006 at 4:46:10 PM
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Reading comprehension is a lost art.
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2,273 posts since 7/6/2005
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Posted on 1/29/2006 at 4:50:59 AM
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I got this in the mail today and I have already played it 3 times and then I took it to a few friends to listen to. Everyone who listened to it was blown away. I personally am very impressed with the guitar work. The songs that stood out most to me were Endless Crusade and Enternally There, several of my friends were really impressed with Heralds of the Dawn. All and all a very impressive debut by those Virginia boys!
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wanna smoke a bowl? come on over!
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1 posts since 1/31/2006
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Posted on 1/31/2006 at 2:39:36 PM
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These guys put their heart and soul into their music and i'm very very impressed with this album. They're great musicians and great friends ever since high school! If you haven't checked out VALKYRIE yet please do, i promise you won't be disapointed! Also,checkout my website to my band PORTAL It's myself on bass and vox and Jake (gtr/vox from VALKYRIE) on drums. If you're fans of the band OM you might enjoy it!!!
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19,820 posts since 3/23/2000
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Posted on 2/1/2006 at 10:30:32 AM
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Damn, already sold out and unavailable. I guess I was too slow.
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That`s a lot of nuts!
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1,076 posts since 2/21/2004
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Posted on 2/6/2006 at 2:20:11 PM
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review from Ray Dorsey's Chaos Realm: VALKYRIE – “Valkyrie” CD ’05 (Twin Earth, US) – Ever since I was a young boy, I have not played the silver ball. And, if I had, I probably wouldn’t steal the line from Pete Townshend, anyway. What I have done since a wee lad, however, is to have loved to visit the Shenandoah Valley. Something about the scenery of this beautiful stretch of Virginia, married with the mountainous bi-way of the Skyline Drive just touches me. Figure how cool it is then, that VALKYRIE comes to me by way of the town of Harrisonburg, pinpointed on Route 33 down that-away. When you throw in the fact that they recorded this debut full-lengther at Maryland’s Polar Bear Studios (birthplace to the latest by Pentagram, Falcon, Internal Void, etc.) things are looking promising. And, based on the few cuts I’d heard by the band previously, I was expecting a doom classic. What I was not expecting, however, is the kind of insanely great double lead guitar melodies that wash over this entire disc, and catapult it easily into my Top 10 for 2005. When I listen to magnificent stuff like “Sunlight Shines,” “Heralds Of The Dawn” or “Endless Crusade,” I’ve got to say…I think as much of stately, gorgeous hymns like “Throw Down The Sword” by Wishbone Ash as I do of modern-day doom. The guitar work of Jake & Pete Adams here speaks of men who, like the best in any field, transcend genres to make a complete work of their own. Wonderful stuff. *note- although the official release date was jan. of 06', it was close enough to 2005, so it can be forgiven...
URL: http://hometown.aol.com/raysrealm/myhomepage/index.html
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1,076 posts since 2/21/2004
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Posted on 2/10/2006 at 9:39:42 AM
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know german? I don't. translation welcomed!
Diese Amiband steht für absolut trendfreien und traditionellen Doom der Marke 80er Pentagram. Heavygitarren brummen und walzen noch und nöcher aus den Boxen, getrieben von einer stählernen Rhythmusmaschinerie. Darüber thront ganz eigensinniger Kauzgesang mit leicht quäkigem Ausdruck. Genau das richtige Maß an Entrücktheit für unsereins. Wer sich über die immer bluesiger werdenden aktuellen Pentagram nicht mehr so recht freuen kann (eigentlich ein Frevel) und auch nicht unbedingt auf 70er Pentagram Stylisten wie Witchcraft und Burning Saviors schwört (Ginge das eigentlich? Ist doch auch frevelhaft.), der hat hier eine Band zu entdecken, die ganau in die metallischste Phase der kultigsten aller Doombands hineindrischt, als wären die letzten 22 Jahre gar nicht vergangen. Der Sound ist sehr organisch, sehr heavy und erfüllt mit Leben, was die Scheibe umso sympathischer klingen lässt. Die Strukturen der Songs sind eingängig, die Melodien allerdings recht spröde, ganz so wie beim Original. Man wird erst mit der Zeit gewahr, welch grandiose Minihymnen sich hier verborgen halten. Valkyrie kacken auf alle Modeerscheinungen im Doom, sparen sich dröhinige Ambientpassagen, Deathmetalgrowls oder Stonerrockaggressionen, andererseits auch kitschigen Gothicweltschmerz. Die Songs sind alles andere als kompliziert aufgebaut und gerade das ist ihr Vorteil. Den Doomfreaks wird es sicher gefallen und irgendwann werden Valkyrie verdient auf dem Doom Shall Rise landen.
Sir Lord Doom
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55,337 posts since 7/17/2002
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Posted on 2/10/2006 at 9:42:58 AM
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Those Krauts copied my review almost word for word!
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I`m never going to work another day in my life
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1,076 posts since 2/21/2004
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Posted on 2/10/2006 at 1:22:29 PM
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hahaha didn't know you were so adept at german!
here's another review from smother.net
The Virginia doom machine is back and you’re about to be completely devastated. Valkyrie are a sonic shockwave of unbridled classic metal power and they finally have the killer production to match their musical muscle. Producer Chris Kozlowski (Pentagram, Blue Cheer, Spirit Caravan) has extracted and refined every ounce of the band’s astounding might to make their full-length debut for Georgia-based Twin Earth Records nothing short of legendary — and extremely worthy of your stereo’s highest volume settings! The basic ingredients of previous Valkyrie releases are all here: Sabbath-esque riffs, stunning Danzig/Cornell vocals, soaring Iommi-worship solos, and a relentless rhythm section. The Adams brothers wail more passionately than ever before on thick layers of guitar bliss (the end of "Eternally There" is almost too much to handle), but the real key to Valkyrie’s appeal is the ability to take influence from a long-standing metal sound and breathe exhilarating new life into it without ever seeming to long despondently for metal days of yore. Heavy metal is a synergistic art that requires mastery of the riff and the structure; Valkyrie are among the masters to whom metal's apprentices should look. More than just a collection of ideas strung together haphazardly, this record is 40 minutes of the most solid writing I’ve ever encountered. From the chugging verses of “Endless Crusade” to the grandiosely imposing sounds in “Heralds of the Dawn”, they’re clearly serious about honest and enthralling music, bowing to no weak trend and following only the call of heavy metal within. I have seen Valkyrie grow into a true beast of metal, but the ride to Valhalla is just beginning. - Jeremy Coulson
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12,670 posts since 10/11/2002
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Posted on 2/14/2006 at 12:00:44 AM
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Just got this. Gotta' love an album without filler. Really, really good record, even better than I had anticipated. Congratulations!
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DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM
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