Like all forms of pop culture, the landscape of Heavy Metal has an ever changing, continuous cycle that offers each new generation of musicians that seem dead-set on leaving their artistic stamp on rock history, the opportunity to introduce their interpretation of "heavy". While fresh sounds are great for the evolution of the genre in general, the downside is that the shelf life of existing styles begins to run out. This leaves the music industry no choice but to push them to the "back burner", creating a void of new releases for the "die-hard", old school rock n roll fan, like me. So you can understand the excitement I feel when a current band continues to release music that resurrects the passion and raw power of a sound that once dominated the Metal genre. One of the most authentic "Classic Metal" sounds that I've heard recently is from the Detroit, Michigan based band, ICHABOD KRANE. With Jeff Schlinz on vocals, Rick Craig on guitars, George Neal on bass, Rob Brug on drums, and Lisa Hurt on keyboards, these guys have chosen to keep straight-up Metal alive and not fall prey to the peer pressure of conforming to new standards that are based solely on what's trending on social media. They write and record what they know and believe in.

Two years ago, out of the blue, I was sent an advance copy of ICHABOD KRANE's debut album, "Day of Reckoning", and was assigned the task of writing a review for a band that I was, at the time, totally unfamiliar with. As fate would have it, the release easily became one of my top 20 albums of 2014, and by the way, there was no task involved in the writing process. So when I read that they were working on their sophomore album, "Beyond Eternity", I eagerly volunteered my name, hoping to get the opportunity to review this one, as well.

"Beyond Eternity", released on Pure Steel Records, is a 9-song slab of Metal that carries the heaviness from start to finish. The album starts with "Black World", a full-on hammering assault of double kicks and high octave vocals, reminiscent of old SAVATAGE. Schlinz's range is vast and seems almost effortless in his upper register, which normally leads to a band being labeled Power Metal. Although they have flashes of Power Metal, putting a sub-genre tag on ICHABOD KRANE would not do their music justice, as they display key ingredients from a host of traditional Heavy Metal categories, with strong influences from the likes of JUDAS PRIEST, HELLOWEEN, and SAVATAGE. After the first track, they abandon the pounding double bass but continuing with the hard rocking "Classic Metal" theme throughout, with Craig's infectious galloping riffs and wailing leads front and center. There are no weak moments anywhere to be found on this release, but the standouts for me are "Metal Messiah", "Pandora's Box", and "Whiskey Angel", with my two favorite songs being the smoking title track, "Beyond Eternity", and the haunting power ballad, "Why So Sad". I have listened to this record incessantly for a couple of weeks now and it only gets better every listen.

For any fan of Heavy Metal that feels like the good old day of rock n' roll are gone forever, ICHABOD KRANE delivers an album that will take you back in time to when "Heavy" was actually an adjective. "Beyond Eternity" will almost certainly be one of my top 20 albums of 2016 and I'm sure it will be one of yours, as well.<