• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Germany's Custard have been around since the late 80's and despite having a reputation for playing Power Metal, I could just never get past the goofy name and check them out. Fate had other plans and the band's latest album, Infested by Anger, dropped on my desk. Turns out, this is a fine album by a fine band. Musically, it's all Germanic Power Metal with the guitars handling all the melodies and leads and nary a keyboard to be heard. Carsten "Oscar" Reichart and Guido Girsch are not going to make anyone forget Murray/Smith or Tipton/Downing, but they know their way around a fret board and trade riffs and solos quite capably. Singer Oliver Strasser has a great voice; gritty in the mid-range with plenty of power at the high end. He reminds me of Lizzy Borden quite a bit, especially when he screams. At other times, like on the slow, simmering "Endless Pain," his delivery is reminiscent of early Geoff Tate, circa Rage for Order.

Infested by Anger is full of double-kicks and big riffs that bridge the time between Lizzy Borden's 80's output and modern PM bands like Iron Fire and Gamma Ray. The songwriting is generic and even a bit derivative, but the performances make up for many of those sins. If anything, Infested by Anger is probably five songs longer than it needed to be, as it starts to feel repetitive by the end. Of the 15 tracks, several could easily have been held back for EPs, singles, b-sides, etc., and the album would not have suffered. To be repetitive myself, this is a fine album that deserves a listen by all fans of grittier Power Metal.