Tanith - "Voyage"
Classic Heavy Metal with nothing fancy
There have been several albums this year from bands which steep themselves in the Classic Heavy1 trappings of metal from the 70s, and Tanith fits neatly into that niche. Voyage is the New-York based (but international!)2 three-piece’s sophomore album, their debut In Another Time coming out back in 2019. The band is comprised of Russ Tippins on guitar, Cindy Maynard on bass, and Keith Robinson on drums.
The majority of the album feels muddy, yet gorgeous. This is definitely an album which will appeal most to listeners who enjoy raw, technical instrumentation. Allow me to be frank: the vocals and lyrics are a total afterthought here. Vocal duty is shared between Tippins and Maynard, often simultaneously, and their vocals come through raw and imperfect.
Because, again, the focus is on their instrumentation.
So there are really two different levels of enjoyment on the album — you can focus on the absolutely mind-blowing excellence of their playing, or you can pull back and allow the mediocre vocals to cover it up.
In short, their overall sound might be improved with a dedicated vocalist. At the same time, though, it still works for the sound they’re going for, and the album is still a very good listen. I think it falls a bit short of the bar that Smoulder set with Violent Creed of Vengeance, but still a solid addition to the year.3
Rating: Green
This links through to the “Classic Sound” tag I use, broadly, for any albums that intentionally pull sounds and styles from decades long gone. It’s not all rock and metal here.
Russ Tippins lives in the UK.
I do feel I could likely do Tanith more justice in this review; however, I’ve been absolutely dead for several days now, and my buffer is gone and I need these last few reviews done.