Review: Tower – Let There Be Dark
All Along the Watch(Tower)
The current traditional heavy metal scene has some really cool new bands coming out with the highly addictive energy one expects from the genre, such as Eternal Champion, Smoulder and The Night Eternal. One of these bands coming out from New York is Tower, a 5-piece featuring one of the more impressive vocalists in the genre in Sarabeth Linden. Their 2021 release, Shock to the System, was a really great effort from the band and 4 years later they have a very challenging task to follow this up with their third album, Let There Be Dark.
The opening track, “Under the Chapel,” starts the album in style as you expect from Tower. It might not be as energetic or in-your-face as “Blood Moon” from their previous album, but it still shows off the impressive range Sarabeth has in her vocals. There’s also a bit of an occult feeling I am getting with this effort so far that I like. The momentum of this album kicks up next with the title track, “Let There Be Dark,” which storms in with fast riffing on the guitars that quickens the pace more. It’s such a brilliantly executed track—a statement that Tower are really stepping up here.
More catchy riffs come to life with “Holy Water,” keeping up the pace after the first two songs. The guitarists are on fire throughout this album and with this tune they delivered a brilliant solo, of which there are many to come as the album progresses. Let There Be Dark moves on into a ballad with “And I Cry” which again shows off the versatility that Sarabeth delivers all over this record. While it’s a slower track, it doesn’t lose any momentum or my interest and finishes off with another fiery guitar solo. Following a nice acoustic cooldown interlude in “The Wells of Souls” comes “Book of the Hidden” which gives a good display of their new drummer, Keith Mikus who has meshed with the band perfectly well.
Another interlude comes after this with “Legio X Fretensis” which has more of an eastern flare compared to the previous interlude. While it may feel a bit too soon to have another interlude, it’s more of a nitpick on my part because it at least has some variety. “Iron Clad” is an absolute killer tune that also has a bit of a throwback to their previous album but is still fresh. It’s one of my favorites on an album that is already stacked with really great tracks. The chorus is fantastic with the high soaring vocals from Sarabeth in sync with the drumming which again is another highlight coming from their new drummer.
Tower shows that they can still hit hard with ballads again with “Don’t You Say” that does a great job in warming up at the start with Sarabeth’s vocals. This all builds up to the guitarists just riffing and soloing for the second half of the song that works nicely. Closing out the album is “The Hammer”—being the longest track, it mixes things up well enough to keep my interest, making for a well-done finish to what’s been one hell of a journey listening through the album.
Let There Be Dark is an impressive step-up, especially with the high bar that Shock to the System made and they’ve followed it up in absolute style here. It is a more mature effort, but they also keep what made their sound thrive in the previous album that doesn’t make you think there’s something missing. They’ve built up on the energy they had and given some additional vibes as mentioned with the occult and eastern feelings in some of the tracks that are more than welcome. The variety in tracks also makes the album’s consistency stronger here. Traditional heavy metal this year has started hot so far with Century and Vultures Vengeance lighting up the way. However, after listening to this belter of an album, Tower joins them there too. I’d highly recommend you check this out.
4.5/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell
Let There Be Dark is out now via Cruz Del Sur Music.
