Label: Maldito Records
Date: October 10th, 2024
Simply as that – just heavy metal! Ingenious album title. Concept is as you can assume based on love for heavy metal. Not just love, a lot of passion and celebration of, we will agree, the best music on the planet. Patxa is a solo project of Francisco Javier Navarro Ramos, classically trained metal singer who studied singing for five years and besides being involved in many projects, the interesting fact from his biography is that he was singing in opera. With thirty years of experience, it seems, he thought it was about time to start a solo project.
Earlier this year, three singles were released from which one stands out. “Sacred Elf” (Tribute to Ronnie J. Dio) tells you all about the main Patxa’s influence. If we look at the song titles, we could easily say that Manowar would envy them. And not just song titles, but album cover too. What attracts attention is that, although Patxa is a trained singer, he does not in any way emphasize or impose singing unnaturally. He simply sings naturally, without burden, strain, desire to prove himself, or as he says in “Steel Soul”: “I scream or sing because this is my steel, my steel soul”. His choice is the sound, it’s the right way to go on. The music lives in us, in him and its power transforms.
From the very first riff, the music pumps your veins. “Children of Metal”… Aren’t we all? The song has a galloping rhythm, it is very melodic, has an anthemic chorus, releases pure power and invites you to celebrate metal. “Honey Drops” is a slightly slower song, with a calmer but very singable chorus that can easily bring fans to ecstasy at concerts. With an excellent guitar part, pounding drums, simple complete enjoyment.
With the next song, “Steel Soul”, Patxa proves that he is a master of melody. Here we deal with a slight growling which completes the song. Already mentioned, “Sacred Elf”, is dedicated to the unsurpassed, one and only, Ronnie James Dio. Thunderous drumming and melodic guitar intro lead us to celebration of, as they say, the greatest voice of heavy metal, a legend of time, a hero of ancient lore. Through verses biographical data, song titles and personal feelings towards Dio are very intelligently woven.
As a representative of the older metal generation I can freely say that I am worried about the future of metal because it is really hard after all those years to reinvent the wheel, make some epochal changes in the sound, attract the attention of audience weather old(er) metalheads who have heard everything and who compare everything with what they have already heard or new generations that are pretty much selective. So, what and where is new metal blood? Listening to the following verses, I find myself in every word:
“I take a trip back in time
Towards a past that was truly exciting, so very shiny
When the black hordes were younger and didn’t need to look further beyond
When the musicians were gods, the power flowed through their greatest tracks…”
It is not nostalgia, a memory of childhood and some other, better times, just reality and the ultimate question, where is the future of metal. They have an answer to the question that I completely agree with:
“Now looking towards the present, anger floods me, screaming
What are we going to do with
Dark corrupt businesses, without heart, without spirit?
They amass fortune and wealth; they don’t think about the consequences
Old straw gods take over the scene
Does it mute the fantasy?”
This song doesn’t have to be directly related to metal; in general, it covers all spheres of life.
“Where Dreams Take Wing” will buy you with its galloping rhythm. The song’s heaviness and essence are given precisely by the way in which a single word is sung – thunderstorm. From the prelude to the end, I can freely say that a combination of traditional metal and classical melodies, with the addition of opera parts and vocal performance in the range of Fabio Leone, spiced up with amazing guitar parts makes this song truly a masterpiece. My heart explodes!
“My Spirit Ablaze” slows down a bit, and to tell you the truth, after “Where Dreams Take Wing” it’s hard to concentrate on the rest of the album. And then, “Just Heavy Metal”… I have no more words for this album. Call me sleazy, old fashioned, whatever you want, this is just my first love, this is just heavy metal! “United Our Spirits Fly” is maybe the most diverse song on all aspects. This is a combination of young and old forces, different singing styles, a combination of subgenres, aggression and emotion… United. If you thought that in the end ballad awaits you, you are completely wrong. “Ladies and Queens” is usually associated with tenderness, but when it comes to metal, yes, we, ladies and queenso f metal are fearless, we are warriors!
I haven’t felt this kind of excitement listening to an album for a long time. I can only say to Patxa, thank you for the album full of emotional charge and 10 anthems that deserve to be performed in stadiums and arenas. Huge respect to Francisco Javier Navarro Ramos, José Félix Melsió Martínez, José Prieto Varea, Mikel Iragui Subiza and Jon Plágaro.
