Album Review: Heir Apparent – The View From Below (No Remorse Records)

No Remorse Records presents the new album of Seattle, WA’s Heir Apparent entitled The View From Below.

Founded in 1984 by guitarist Terry Gorle. During 1985, the band’s debut album is considered as one of the best US metal albums of the 80s. The current line-up consists of original members Terry Gorle (guitar), Derek Peace (bass), Ray Schwartz (drummer) with the addition of Op Sakiya (keyboards) and the great new singer Will Shaw.

The View From Below will be released on October 15th 2018.

There is no escaping the classic heavy metal sound of The View From Below. It’s steeped in old-school riffing, hooky guitars and soaring solos from the moment Man in the Sky begins. A ruckus start, then the catchy rhythm of The Door with the super-impressive vocals really shows of Heir Apparent’s talents.

With an album that drips classic heavy metal vibes, a ballad is kind of expected but perhaps not as soon as the third track in. Here We Aren’t really isn’t much in the way of anything special either, a tad boring except for a pretty huge guitar solo that closes out the track.

That Synthetic Lies begins in a similar fashion with a dour melody doesn’t bode well but thankfully injections of snarling heaviness help bring it back around before the energy is truly brought back for Savior. A rip-roaring, head-bangingly fun track.

Unfortunately the momentum is halted again for the slow and overly long, Further and Farther. At this stage you can’t help but admire the incredible vocals of Will Shaw as everything else kind of drags. It’s not just because these tracks are slower as The Road to Palestine shows it can be done to great effect. Here, some middle-eastern influences make it that little more unique sounding.

The ringing of bells announces the arrival of the final track, Insomnia and it’s a finale that does plenty to redeem some of the flaws from earlier. The dirty guitar groove gets the foot tapping and the vocals, unsurprisingly, lift everything.

The View From Below has its flaws. A few too many tracks just aren’t that interesting and sound somewhat dated but there is plenty of talent in Heir Apparent and when they’re good they’re really good.

Heir Apparent – The View From Below Full Track Listing:

1. Man in the Sky
2. The Door
3. Here We Aren’t
4. Synthetic Lies
5. Savior
6. Further and Farther
7. The Road to Palestine
8. Insomnia

Head over to Heir Apparent’s website to find all your ordering links for the album. It will be available from all major streaming services and shops. Check out Heir Apparent on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The video for The Door is watchable below.