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It's a shame when talented musicians get together but have no inspiration. The intentions are there: create good music for people to enjoy, but the end result is usually the same, and it's painfully generic and boring. Such is the case with Crushing Blow, a female-fronted traditional metal band from France. This has been sitting in my pile of promos for a while now, and you can guess why. There just isn't much to say about it. There are only so many synonyms for mediocre. Cease Fire is simple, by the numbers heavy metal that's been done time and time again, with power chord riffs, a few melodic lines, and then some undistinguished solos.

Each song on this album sounds the same. Some are better than others, but they're far from unique. The extremely Doro-esque voice Valéne De Santis is clearly the focus here; it's practically a project for her minimally emotional copycat voice. Crushing Blow is just Warlock sans the energy and fervor. Plain and simple, without the enthusiasm. The songs take concrete shape, but don't have the catchiness needed. These guys are all talented, and their hearts are in the right place, but the targeted traditional metal scene has a plethora of better bands right now. With some new members and some creativity inserted into this outfit, there's some potential. But the way they're going now, Crushing Blow is destined for obscurity.