PASSAGE is a 5 Piece Traditional Heavy Metal band from Athens in Greece. Obviously not to be confused with the tons of bands with the same name including a very underrated Post-Metal band from my neck of the woods in Charlesbourg, Quebec. I found myself diving head first into the traditional metal revival bands. So really, I was bound to eat up almost anything that pulls off this style half decently (and sometimes still do). So giving this a little bit of time to marinade, I’ve found that it actually does stand out from its peers. All of this is due to how strong the songwriting is. I’ll be the first to say that this isn’t very unique stylistically at all. But boy do they ever have some chops, and the variance in delivery just offers up even more fun to be had. The main mold that holds them together is the running theme of occult and historical blending not meant to sound evil or spooky. Most of the time things swing one way or the other, but not here. And forget finding a point where anything over-does itself, because you won’t. But like I said, the writing itself is what brings this to peak levels. There’s a constant flow of different angles, and I’m here for it.

They have that sound which harks back to a different era, that era is the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) which swept over the United Kingdom during the late 70’s and early 80’s and if you didn’t know any better, you’d say that could have stood alongside the likes of IRON MAIDEN, ANGEL WITCH and SAXON in 1980. ''Into the Abyss'' cut its teeth from the template laid down by DIAMOND HEAD’s 1980 masterpiece; 'Lightning to the Nations', there are still songs on this self-titled release which have the DIAMOND HEAD flair, such as 'Devoid of Reality' and 'Dawning War' which would appease any fan of old school metal. PASSAGE spread out in the NWOBHM and various old-school influences territory with yet, plenty of the songs pointing towards the KING DIAMOND (minus the incredible vocals of the KING himself obviously) end of the spectrum.

It would be easy to write this full-length debut album off as a mere repeat hodge-podge of styles, but by itself it's a refreshing band with old school metal tropes. They might use a tried and true formula on here as many did before them but on the contrary, PASSAGE may end up being a superior effort due to tweaks in songwriting and the band itself feeling more confident than many bands out there in their 80s metal sweet spot. While PASSAGE would rather rock out than change the modern music landscape, the songwriting is more varied and ambitious for such a new band on the scene. Most of the songs still go at a catchy, upbeat pace but tracks like “Eternal Frost” and especially “Tempter from Heaven” match the speed metal fun with fluctuating dynamics and tempo changes.