• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Detroit's Halloween have been around for nearly 30 years so to say they play Heavy Metal with an old-school flair seems like a safe bet. Their latest album, 2012's Terrortory, is a slow roll down the horror-strewn paths most recently travelled by Sweden's Wolf. All the songs are mid-tempo, heavy and menacing. As the band's name might imply, horror is the main lyrical theme and song titles like "Traipsing Through the Blood," "Caught in the Webs" and "Hands Around My Throat" close the case for the prosecution.

Any band that's been around this long deserves some recognition but, in spite of their tenure, there are problems with Terrortory. Through the first five or six songs, the album chugs along, sounding pretty good. Guitarists Donny Allen and Don Guerrin display some nice lead work and the rest of the musicians acquit themselves well. Around the mid-point of the album, singer Brian Thomas starts to flag a bit. He sounds tired and straining to hit notes by the time tracks like "Re-inventing Fear" or "Scare You" roll around. Even the background vocals don't help as these are occasionally flat, making things worse. This is also the point where Terrortory starts to crumble under its own weight. There don't seem to have been enough good ideas to flesh out all 16 tracks on the album. I realize some of the material was not specifically written for Terrortory but Halloween could have easily cut half a dozen songs and ended up with a much stronger album.

Fans of 80s Heavy Metal, especially those who like the horror-inspired offerings from Lizzy Borden and Hallow's Eve, will find value in Terrortory. Just be prepared to skip around to find the best songs.