Sandstone – Purging the Past

Releasedate: 30-10-2010; Label: Limb Music
By: Elvira Visser

When thinking of music from Ireland the usual cliché bands like Thin Lizzy and U2 come to mind. However these are not that metal, but these four guys from Sandstone try to bring us a different sound. Recently Sandstone has re-released their second album ‘Purging the Past’. Difference with their first release is that the they shortened the album with three tracks, changed the order, remixed it by themselves and remastered and released it outside of Ireland.

The twelve tracks on ‘Purging the Past’ have that feeling of tight power metal with a dash of different melodies. Every now and then it does remind of Iron Maiden and some tracks have a touch of Guns’n’Roses. They have created a diverse power metal album trying to really integrate their own style.

‘Purging the Past’ has its moments. They all prove to be good musicians showing off their personal skills in showing nice bass lines, shredding guitar solos or some brilliant passages in the ballads. However the sad thing is that every track more or less has the same structure. It starts with a slower intro, then their building it up but just as you thing they are going to that little extra, musical and vocal wise, it drops back to a slower tempo, never really exploding. Maybe all a little on the safe side, because it lacks real power.

The tracks that pop out are “Y”, a very nice ballad and “The Son Of Carthage” which was clearly influenced by Dragonforce. Another very good track is “Happy Birthday”. The last track on the album “All Operations” has a really nice flow and catchy melody line, but personally i’m not a big fan of the way his voice sounds. For those power metal fans this time around the band released a good album with a nice structure that will not let you down.

Tracklist: 01 Anymore Lies 02 Hiding In The Shadows 03 Karma 4:53 04 Son Of Carthage 05 The Road To Guantanamo 06 Y 4:34 07 Fingerprints 08 Division 09 D.O.A. 10 Enigma 11 Happy Birthday 12 All Operations

Links:
Sandstone MySpace
Sandstone Official