Trad Metal Power to the Extreme!

When you listen to a lot of metal music and its near-infinite subgenres, you learn to expect and appreciate a number of little details that only make sense when you’re very familiar with the stylings and cliches within the vast world of metal. “Trad” metal is an interesting example; technically speaking it should be simple: bands that play a traditional style of metal, whether they take influence from Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Manilla Road or Dio or eschew the pompous excess and sleaze of glam and power metal is almost a given, as these bands in theory just want to play and record “METAL”, pure and simple. Except it isn’t that simple. And trad metal is its own niche with very specific signifiers and tropes, if you will.

Enter Prehistoria, a newcomer from Indiana, and their debut full length, Cryptic Halo. While the band described themselves as traditional heavy metal (for the sake of brevity, I’ll keep saying trad metal) with influences that include power metal, thrash and black metal, Metal-Archives describes them as simply power metal. I bring this up because the music from beginning to end is this careful balance of grandiose metal full of bombast and a bit of cheese, and hard hitting, no-BS trad metal, with riffs for days, dynamic and speedy drumming, and vocalist Alonso “Zo” Donoso evoking the soaring vocals of Ronnie James Dio with the attitude and grit of the late great Paul Di’Anno. And what’s impressive is how the band makes it work.

The songs have substantial lengths ranging from 4 to 5 minutes, with two tracks near the end of side two crossing the 6- and 7-minute mark, and with these lengths the band truly flex their skills with gusto and panache. While I wouldn’t call any of what Prehistoria does here black metal, I can hear what they mean by being influenced by it, particularly in how they balance the riff-heavy writing and unswerving speed with melodic dueling guitars. Drummer Cody Johns is the major standout here; his drumming is dynamic and powerful, and the man near-seamlessly switches from classic rock rhythms into full-tilt blast beats. His fills in particular are striking as he does them a lot, and somehow they never feel overused; Johns keeps his drumming unique and suited for each song, and his performance as a whole is outstanding.

However, make no mistake, the whole band performs expertly as a unit and individually. The guitarwork of Shaun Cothron and Max Otworth is admirable and they have perfect chemistry; from the solo and rhythm parts to their twin riff assault, they never let up, and I already mentioned vocalist Zo Donoso, whose vocals perfectly fit every song and even at his most over- the-top when using a falsetto, or slightly guttural gang vocals, he matches the intensity and exuberance of the music.

Before closing, I want to mention my gripes which are mostly production-related, but it also includes the bass, or occasional lack thereof. To be clear, this isn’t a knock against the band’s bassist Ian Bender; he is as good as the rest of his bandmates—when I can actually hear the bass. Yes, while the songwriting and performances are strong, this record commits the sin that many metal bands tend to be guilty of, mainly how the leads, vocals and drums are maxed out in the mixing to the detriment of the bass. Granted, when the bass is actually audible it’s really, really good, it has a very pleasing distorted crunch, and Johns also has his moments to shine with his own bass licks and flourishes. Side 1 is where the bass is the most audible, but as the album progresses, the bass starts fading more and more, at least for me, and I’m willing to admit it’s my own bias (I play the bass myself, so there’s that).

The rest of the production is good for the most part; because of the band’s dynamic and soaring style of trad metal they do benefit from a clean production, and the best results are of course with the drumming, guitars and vocals, and barring how the bass gets a bit lost in the mix, the sound is very clear. My personal favorite aspect is the distinction of both the rhythm guitar and lead guitar, especially during the solos. My issue is that the album sounds too clean; it doesn’t sound sterile or processed, but it does have that digital sheen that’s kinda the bane of modern metal as a whole. However I will give the band props for not stuffing the mix with an abundance of effects, particularly the vocal (lead and backing). I did hear the occasional “McDonald’s drive-thru speaker” distortion effect but it thankfully wasn’t a constant, and for the rest of the album Zo’s vocals are recorded dry and clean.

To close off, this is a very impressive debut record, and the band really put out some A-game material with stellar performances. While they did have the occasional pitfalls in production that many metal bands tend to fall in, it isn’t a deal breaker, though I would love to hear this band live or a record if they were able to get their hands on vintage equipment, but that is neither here nor there. As it stands, this is still a pure metal record by guys who know their shit, if you hear this and don’t yell “Death to False Metal!” in approval, then you might want to either avoid metal entirely, or stick to the extreme stuff.

3.5/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell

Cryptic Halo releases February 11 through Stormspell Records.