Taipei Metal

Review: Rancorous - In the Circle of Throne, 2005

Rancorous, from Thailand, are the  musical bastard sons of Witchery, Dragonforce, and Helloween. On In the Circle of  Throne, Maiden-esque dual leads and galloping rhythms stand alongside touches of thrash, power metal, and even blast beats from time to time. The vocals call to mind black metal fare, but the influence of power metal comes through on tracks such as “Born in the Abyss” in higher pitched screams that seem to be an extreme metal version of the clean falsetto screams of Rob Halford. Uplifting, soaring solos and power metal song arrangements paint pictures of epic battles on tracks such as “Blades Thirst for You (sic) Blood.” Most of the songs have that familiar   European power-metal buildup, where the chords played grow progressively higher to an audience-moving crescendo, which some listeners may find slightly cheesy, but there is no faulting the musicianship on In the Circle of the Throne. Rancorous' virtuosity reminds of the playing of Children of Bodom's Alexi Laiho, Dragonforce's Herman Li, and even Yngwie Malmsteen.