LIVE REVIEW: Unleash The Archers @ Slay Glasgow

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Power metal is an incredibly popular subgenre, yet in recent years, fans say that the genre has fallen into a rut. It’s hasn’t quite innovated or pushed the envelope, unlike, say, black or death metal. As a result, the list of bands that have broken into the upper ranks of popularity in the last twenty years is short. One of those bands is Canada’s UNLEASH THE ARCHERS, a four-piece that completed their mission of hybridising melodic death and power metal compellingly. As the years passed, they dropped the melo-death and kept smashing through the max popularity ceiling. Despite the rising number of power metal fans in the UK, it seems that fewer bands are including London, let alone anywhere else in the UK, on European treks that would have certainly touched down in the capital over ten years ago. So it’s perhaps no surprise that when UNLEASHED THE ARCHERS announced a London date for earlier this year, it sold out in four days and was upgraded to a roomier venue. Naturally, all the extra tickets vanished rapidly, prompting the band to actually listen to the fans for once and come back a few months later to travel elsewhere in the UK.

All For Metal live @ Slay, Glasgow. Photo Credit: Duncan McCall

The Glasgow show takes place on a Tuesday, and Slay is absolutely crammed with bodies. The room is so rammed that there’s a security person who’s sole job seems to be to get people to shuffle forward away from the exit to allow more attendees to squeeze in. The only support tonight is ALL FOR METAL, a power metal band of dubious origins. There’s an argument to be made that power metal is struggling in the light of bands that dress up and get popular on social media due to their wacky, cartoony looks over musicianship. This German/Italian collective was artificially assembled by the record label AFM (hence their initials), instantly given a huge marketing budget, popular tours and festival slots. Formed in 2022, they already have two albums and approximately 15 music videos.

You can imagine what they sound like: generic and uninspired power metal that takes cues from SABATON, HAMMERFALL, MANOWAR, DYNAZTY etc. There are two vocalists: Antonio Calanna with a traditional power metal higher range complete with a piercing falsetto, and Tim Schmidt who sounds similar to the gruff deeper tones of SABATON vocalist Joakim Broden. Their stage presence is very pantomime-y, which may appeal to those who prefer crowd interaction over music, like those dragged along to the show. The music itself is the typical kitsch heavy/power metal themes with the exact same metal, Viking, warrior and camaraderie themes that MANOWAR, DREAM EVIL, RHAPSODY and a thousand other bands have adopted since. Songs played are titled Raise Your Hammer, Born in Valhalla, Gods of Metal, and Goddess of War.
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All For Metal live @ Slay, Glasgow. Photo Credit: Duncan McCall

The venue’s sound makes the guitars scratchy, but the audience is up for this cliché performance, given the hearty responses given to the band on request. Perhaps the most surprising inclusion is a bass solo by

Rating: 4/10Unleash The Archers live @ Slay, Glasgow. Photo Credit: Duncan McCall

Just before Canadian power metallers UNLEASH THE ARCHERS take the stage, you can feel the lofty expectations in the air. The five-piece immediately ignites the performance to remember with the self-titled song from Abyss. This dynamite-laden anthem is hampered by singer Brittney Slayes‘ vocals being criminally too quiet. Fortunately, this is rectified very quickly, and just as well. Slayes‘ voice is fantastic on record but live, they’re jaw-droppingly incredible. Effortlessly, she smashes out sustained falsettos and belting vibratos, wielding her enviable vocal talent like a broadsword. Soulbound and Faster than Light from the same album continue the rampage, dazzling the audience, who eats up every note from the band.

Next, two selections from 2017’s Apex, the headliner’s breakthrough album, are presented – The Matriarch and Awakening. The metal is technical without being distractingly so, with nods towards SYMPHONY X. Guitar harmonies, sparingly used growled vocals and electrifying solos are the order of the night, all configured to make outstanding power metal that excels in the live environment. The following two songs are
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Unleash The Archers live @ Slay, Glasgow. Photo Credit: Duncan McCall

Last year, UNLEASH THE ARCHERS released Phantoma, so they play four prime cuts from this, including Ghosts in the Mist, Green and Glass and Gods in Decay. On stage, they don’t seem to stop headbanging, and it’s refreshing to see a band still having fun playing live. They’re constantly swapping smirks and private jokes with each other throughout. It seems they hold all the cards for being an all-around excellent metal band. They last played Scotland in 2017, and when Hayes asks how many were at that Edinburgh show, about five people put their hands up. Clearly, word of how outstanding they are has rightfully travelled. After Blood Countess, the cool Canadians leave the stage, only to return for their encore. This is a cover of the STAN ROGERS folk song Northwest Passage, their most played song on Spotify, almost double the number of listeners of their second one. Far from their best song, this example of patriotic Canada sees large swathes of the fans singing along to each lyric. It certainly rounds the rest of the set out sublimely, and the ovation UNLEASH THE ARCHERS receive is epic. They absolutely must return to Glasgow again.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Glasgow from Duncan McCall here:









































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