New album, “From The Grave”, out on July 25th!
Hailing from Santiago, Chile’s Iron Spell was founded in mid-2013 by drummer and composer Felipe Carvajal (Steelhammer), initially with the idea of making a classic heavy metal album with friends, mixing the mysticism and darkness of King Diamond and Black Sabbath with hard & heavy rock from the ‘70s and ‘80s like KISS, Alice Cooper, Twisted Sister, and WA.S.P. The lack of commitment and involvement of some musicians considerably delayed the process, and what was going to be a full-length ended up being a four-song EP, Heavy Metal Witchcraft. Shortly after, the band uploaded Heavy Metal Witchcraft to social media, and the word spread fast: in a few weeks, it was released in Europe on 7″ vinyl, cassette, and CD by three different labels, with Dying Victims being the first ones to believe in Iron Spell and release this recording on cassette.
Iron Spell made their live debut in March 2014 and continued to remain active despite a few lineup changes, always faithful to their style and sound. Both fully blossomed on their debut album, 2016’s Electric Conjuring, which even featured Judas Priest’s Richie Faulkner on one track. In 2021, Iron Spell released both the EP Live Magic after Midnight and, later, the Argentinean compilation Witching Hour – The Best of Iron Spell.
The best was yet to come for Iron Spell, though, and it’s arrived at last in From the Grave. A more thorough-yet-effortless trip through the heavy metal ‘80s one will not find than what the Chileans present here on their second album. No stone is left unturned – or, rather, gravestone! – as Iron Spell display the dazzling breadth of their metallic songcraft, all illustrating their thematic commitment to classic horror. From backstreet strutters to fleet-fingered speed-runs, cocksure hard rock to moody explorations of the supernatural, anthemic headbangers to equally anthemic speed metal, and even an eerie & evocative instrumental, From the Grave reads like the hypothetical soundtrack to an ‘80s horror flick, and the quintet positively ooze charisma at every darkly gleaming turn. And atop it all are the dramatic, wide-register vocals of frontman Merciless, who in turn serves as much as narrator as metal god. After 41 fully satisfying minutes and concluding with the chilling epic “Children of the Night,” you’ll fall under their Iron Spell and rise From the Grave!
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