Vendetta – Heretic Nation

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A second offering from the traditional metal band of guitar virtuoso Edward Box sees permanent drummer Lee Lamb join and they have managed to transfer the tightness and focus of their live shows supporting the first album to the recordings for the second. The resulting Heretic Nation is a far better effort than 2007’s debut Tyranny of Minority. Box has greatly improved his vocals and has made the songs, on the whole, much heavier with a greater focus on riffs and rhythms than on over-burdening the tracks with too many guitar solos. Therefore when the solos come they are welcome and superb, trading between Box and partner Pete Thompson far more appropriately than before and never simply for the sake of more lead playing. Lamb’s drumming is allowed to be more prominent this time and the song structures of tracks like The Space Between, expansive Powers That Be and New Horizon are much more adventurous than the first disc. A huge improvement all round, but the biggest step forward is making the band’s sound heavier, pushing the focus onto the riffs but still letting the solos (the ones in The Powers That Be are excellent) take their pride of place when their moments arrive.

Written by Andy Lye
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