Band:	Wardanz
Album:	Wardanz
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	2008

01. Walls Of Silence
02. Sensing Danger
03. Man with No Name
04. Angel Of Rebellion
05. Drizzle And Passing Clouds
06. Racin' With The Wind
07. Comanche Moon
08. Secrets
09. Hate Removal Machine
10. Impending Retaliation

Some bands know how to play old school Metal, some others don't? Some have talent some others don't? It's funny to see that a lot of French bands try to compose old school Hard Rock and Heavy Metal nowadays and don't even find a way to do something coherent when some others, without being serious or anything manage to create really good music! This is a case of Wardanz, a band composed of good ol' mates at first (including Leo Margarit of Pain Of Salvation), which proposes a really good album of melodic Hard Rock. Without any pretention, this band has managed to write an album which will kick the ass of a lot of people. If you like 90's, Ugly Kid Joe and all those bands, please have a look at their first release and you should have some good surprises!

I have the chance to listen to a lot of new releases and when I receive something made in France, a lot of time the band tries to do some kind of French Heavy Metal which is finally outdated and rotten. When I read that Wardanz was influenced by 90's music, some kind of bitter saliva came to my mouth? The numerous bad experiences have finally killed me, it's just really hard for me now to link (and like) French bands with 90's or 80's because in general they're just terrible. However Wardanz is a good surprise. The music of the band is solid, melodic but thrashy too and the guitars soli are just terrific (really that's impressive!). All in all it reminds me Ugly Kid Joe (without the "fun" side), with big Metal riffs but also rock n roll spirit and a lot of enjoyable choruses that you'll sing along with the band if you have the chance to see them live.

As I said at the beginning of the review, Wardanz is a matter of mates at first and if Leo Margarit who lives in Sweden now chose to join the guys to record this album, this is probably not for nothing. All the other members are really good musicians, the lead guitarist is excellent, the bass lines are solid and Kévin's voice is really good (and reminds me the voice of Whitfield Crane). For a self-released album, the production is more than professional and the digipack, even if the cover artwork is really simple, proves that the band wanted to release its first album as best as possible. That's classy?

"Wardanz" is good. Sure that's old school, sure that's not trendy but sometime it's good to be nostalgic especially when the guys who still believe in the so called "old school music" know how to do it and are able to add modernity in their compositions. Wardanz is maybe a little band without any pretention, but at least they don't follow any trends but know how to play good Metal!