Review 1
Haven's second album "Age of Darkness" is a masterpiece!
This album is a very big step up from what I heard from their first album! They must have learned to play or something. This album was originally released in 1991 with 11 songs and these alone were a major listening experience producing hooky and catchy rhythms! Now with 18 full tracks, this album is an OUTSTANDING purchase.... This is mostly borderline thrash and power metal in a mix that really reminisces Metal Church, Loudness, and Queensryche! It gets quite melodic but still drives you to nod your head as you listen. The vocals are clean and this guy does a superb job! I really couldn't tell you who this guy sounds like. Maybe David Wayne mixed with Geoff Tate? Hmm...well it's good. His range isn't really high but he stays well within the safe range without overdoing it to sound dumb. I am curious why these guys have quit playing though! Another album like this and these guys would definitely have been on the metal map! (Review by Biff Bartholemew 10 stars baby, this is HOT 10/10
Review 2
.......this highly-worthy release from Haven. Age of Darkness was Haven's second album, released in 1991. This highly-sought-after disc has been out of print for a long time and now, thankfully, it's easy to find once again. On their previous release, Your Dying Day, Haven dished out some serious power/thrash metal that still gets spins in my CD player from time to time. With Age of Darkness we find an even more mature band that while sounding very similar goes a little more down the path of melodic, technical power/progressive metal with less hints of thrash than their previous disc. This is in no way to say that this is a wimpy or bad album. This is high quality material that should've had more attention in its day. Fans of bands like Queensryche would be proud..... You gotta love the classics like "Divination", "Séance", "The Witching Hour", and "Blood of the Lamb" that show up on this disc. And I still remember listening to the radio in high school and the night time metal DJ used to play the song "Spend My Life With You" all the time as a tribute to his girlfriend at the time. The band even includes three haunting, acoustical tracks, the best of which is "Once Upon a Time" where it sounds like the piano and acoustic guitar are played backwards as Kevin Ayers sings over the top in this creepy voice mixed with some occasional whispering. Very cool ending to the album.....only that's not the ending. Retroactive Records has also included six bonus tracks from Ayers' new hard rock outfit, Thunder Bucket.
Packaging has the same artwork, only enhanced. And you just gotta love that album cover. Fits perfectly with the music from the song "Once Upon a Time." Lyrics are included and deal a lot with witchcraft and the occult. Plus there are some love-type songs on here too. And as was the case on their first disc, Haven's faith in God shows up very boldly.
All in all, this Kurt Bachman-produced, digitally re-mastered album should be a welcome sight for those Haven fans who have been searching for a copy of this disc.
Rating: 87/100
Review By: Matt Morrow
Label: Retroactive Records
Total Songs: 18
Total Time: 78:26
Tracklisting: 1. Tenacious Volition, 2. Divination, 3. When You Said Goodbye, 4. Holly, 5. Exaltation, 6. The Witching Hour, 7. Seance, 8. Spend My Life With You, 9. Unchanging Love, 10. Blood of the Lamb, 11. Once Upon a Time, 12. (Silence), 13. Mamma, 14. Black Friday, 15. All the Wrong Heroes, 16. Mudshoe Moses, 17. The Sea, 18. Her Eyes.
Band Lineup: Kevin Ayers - Lead & Backing Vocals/Electric, Acoustic, and Classical Guitars, Tim Benton - Drums, Andrew Bruner - Lead & Rhythm Guitars, Ed Bruner - Piano/Classical Guitars/Bass Guitar, John Farrell - Lead, Rhythm, Electric, & Classical Guitars.
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