Review by JD on December 1, 2011.

I hear something that sends my soul into pleasure? Hearing the very distinctive drums, intense shredding metallic guitars and perfectly exicuted and unabashed vocals. Metal reigns... good, old school and in your face kick the shit out of everyone else metal. Gotta tell you that sounds damned good right now.

Fuelled by the passion and need to make Power/Speed Metal that would make every metallic heart lift the horns in respect, Germany’s Stormwarrior brings the old school into the new metal millennium. Known for years as one of the elite metal bands in their homeland, they have been pretty much unknown over here in North America. What I have heard here, and have experienced on this CD... I smile and raise a beer.

"Heathen Warrior" is this the bands fourth full release (having four ep's, two demos and a live one) finally shows us here in the west just what metal is. Songs such as the potent riffs of 'Fyre And Ice' or the memorable title track shows this band does bring the passion and might of old school into the new age with pride... because they never lost any of the fire or passion that was once there. Coupled by the fact that they have talent and desire, Stormwarrior is the perfect band to bring the old into the new.

The production was not as good as I thought it needed to be, but hearing the material I seem to be alright with it. Stormwarrior has a album here that begs to be heard. If you have anybody new to metal get them this album. It teaches just where metal has come from, and shows us where the hell it is going... not to mention why it is here in the first place. It my be a old school but it does not feel like it is. Just feels real to me.
Enough said... need beer now.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 8.5
Originality: 9
Overall: 9

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Michael on February 14, 2022.

So here we go with the second EP Nos Prières by French one-man project Prieuré. Again a very appealing artwork invites the listener to a trip into the abysses of French black metal and again you won't be disappointed. No keyboard or acoustic intro is needed, the hateful maelstrom of blood (or is it a dry Bordeaux?) pulls you down and spits you out after almost 22 minutes of disturbing, fast-witching black metal.

It is not quite dissonant music that mastermind Sans-Visage presents though there are some parts that remind me of the well-known French band with the Greek letter in its name but all in all it is quite a unique release. The vocal on Nos Prières is – as it already was on La Foi Des Bourreaux- very distorted and aggressive and the guitars and drums also sometimes go into some punk direction again. What I really like on this EP is the fact that you cannot find some black metal tunes only but also some acoustic guitar parts that give you some space to relax. I guess if there would be just these black metal songs, it would be a very exhausting trip and very hard to follow until the end. The production is quite okay for an independent release; maybe the instruments are a little bit overdriven so that there is some white noise in it but it may be intentional, too. Of course, I want to go into detail for some of the five tracks: The second track 'Sacrifiés' is a really catchy one because of its simple structures and what I really like in it are the female vocals that somewhat create a slight ghastly atmosphere. 'Nos Prièrs', the opener, however is a really fast and uncompromising black metal track with some very interesting breaks that will convince every old school black metal fan. 'Amérique' starts as a very calm acoustic guitar driven track that creates nevertheless a quite uncomfortable atmosphere. And after about 1:30 minutes this quite ugly caterpillar turns into a skull hawk moth, to be metaphorical.

I would state that Prieuré went the next logical step with this album. Sans-Visage did little bit more experimental stuff and quite an interesting approach of songwriting. May the first full-length come soon!

Rating: 8 out of 10 Mouton-Cadet

Review by Michael on February 14, 2022.

So here we go with the second EP Nos Prières by French one-man project Prieuré. Again a very appealing artwork invites the listener to a trip into the abysses of French black metal and again you won't be disappointed. No keyboard or acoustic intro is needed, the hateful maelstrom of blood (or is it a dry Bordeaux?) pulls you down and spits you out after almost 22 minutes of disturbing, fast-witching black metal.

It is not quite dissonant music that mastermind Sans-Visage presents though there are some parts that remind me of the well-known French band with the Greek letter in its name but all in all it is quite a unique release. The vocal on Nos Prières is – as it already was on La Foi Des Bourreaux- very distorted and aggressive and the guitars and drums also sometimes go into some punk direction again. What I really like on this EP is the fact that you cannot find some black metal tunes only but also some acoustic guitar parts that give you some space to relax. I guess if there would be just these black metal songs, it would be a very exhausting trip and very hard to follow until the end. The production is quite okay for an independent release; maybe the instruments are a little bit overdriven so that there is some white noise in it but it may be intentional, too. Of course, I want to go into detail for some of the five tracks: The second track 'Sacrifiés' is a really catchy one because of its simple structures and what I really like in it are the female vocals that somewhat create a slight ghastly atmosphere. 'Nos Prièrs', the opener, however is a really fast and uncompromising black metal track with some very interesting breaks that will convince every old school black metal fan. 'Amérique' starts as a very calm acoustic guitar driven track that creates nevertheless a quite uncomfortable atmosphere. And after about 1:30 minutes this quite ugly caterpillar turns into a skull hawk moth, to be metaphorical.

I would state that Prieuré went the next logical step with this album. Sans-Visage did little bit more experimental stuff and quite an interesting approach of songwriting. May the first full-length come soon!

Rating: 8 out of 10 Mouton-Cadet