Speed Metal was born in the first half of the 80s, and could be said as a faster way of playing traditional Heavy Metal. In those days, it was easier to confound it with early Thrash Metal (many said METALLICA was a Speed Metal act in the days between “Kill ‘Em All” and “Master of Puppets”, when they canonized what Thrash Metal would from 1986 onward), but one must have in mind that ACCEPT is one of its creators with “Fast as a Shark”. Many acts walked on this genre until it felt on disuse (again: “Master of Puppets” canonized Thrash Metal on 02/1986); but it came back along the Old School Metal genres comeback in the second half of the 90s. And its good to hear “The Ascent & the Hunger”, the first EP of the French quintet PALANTYR.

The band itself produced the songs, but Olof Wikstrand was a wise choice of the band to work on the mixing and mastering (that were done at Hvergelmer Studios, Arvika, Sweden), because he took the tracks and gave a heavier and massive sonority, keeping the Old School focus of the instrumental tunes, but with definition and aggressiveness. It’s good, but could be better, so maybe it’s a good idea to have Olof at the helm of the production on the band’s next release. It's the band first release, but they were called DESTRUKT before, what means that they took advantage of their experience to create these songs. The band’s music relies on a form of Speed Metal of the 80s with clear influences from NWOBHM (especially IRON MAIDEN, as can be heard on “Son of the White Mare”), what means a fine mix between a strong melodic appeal with fast tempos and a very good dose of aggressiveness, unleashing a very good amount of energy.

“Shan E Sorkh”, “Broken Mirror”, “Son of the White Mare”, “Ravenous” and “Graveyard” are songs that shows the quintet’s firepower, always balancing weight, aggressiveness and melodies under some fast tempos (but not always playing fast, please, it’s not a ‘one-breath-speed’ album). And as a surprise, they made a very good version for “Nosferatu” (an old song of the English singer Paul Roland, known for his musical work that covered a wide range of genres as Gothic Rock, Psychedelic Pop, Folk and Baroque), here with a clear focus on the guitars than on keyboards parts, and with tons of weight.

“The Ascent & the Hunger” is a very good release to present the band with its new name. And PALANTYR will make many fans happy with its music.