SLEEPY HOLLOW

The metal world has benefitted from a slew of reunions these past few years. While just as many have made us regret the decision to reform, several others have proven to us that some bands do in fact get better with age or at least reinforce why we loved those early releases in the first place. New Jersey's SLEEPY HOLLOW is a U.S. heavy metal act that returned to the scene more than two decades after releasing its 1991 self-titled debut album was released and done more than just fulfill the promise it showed all those years ago. More than anything else, the 57 minutes of "Skull 13" represent well played and well written traditional heavy metal, but also features a progressive side, all of which makes for a fulfilling listening experience.

Driving tempos anchored by the prominent bass lines of Mike LePond (SYMPHONY X) and drumming of Tommy Wassman (click-y bass drum sound aside),forged in the fires of Steve Stegg's riffs, and led by a versatile singer in Bobby Mitchell (ex-ATTACKER) whose style recalls Udo Dirkschieder (ACCEPT) during the most aggressive material and in vaguer terms Ronnie James Dio during the lighter sections. Several songs fall decidedly into terrain that has been traversed by METAL CHURCH, JUDAS PRIEST, and ACCEPT, the sound of each of those acts more apparent during some moments than others, yet marked by SLEEPY HOLLOW's own identity. "Death of the Horsemen", "Black Passage" (with its menacing riff descents) "Bleed Steel", "Inquisition", the SAXON-boogie-by-way-of-WHIPLASH of "Rear Window", and a steel belted (and PRIEST-esque) metal anthem called "Facemelter". It is during the album's second half in which the progressive tools are put to good use, beginning with the 10-minute aptly titled "Epic (The Legend Retold)", which features a steady, airlifted verse with light synth line that shifts in and out of quicker paced sections. The band works in a little tension-and-release on the DIO-esque "Eternal Bridge", which includes a classic metal vocal harmony from Mitchell. Though the six-minute "Spiral Effect" is straight forward in arrangement it too comes with proggy shades, while closer "Midnight" flows nicely from a piano-and-soft-vocal verse to a glass shattering chorus. Though pushing run-time limits for an album already approaching an hour, the inclusion of two-minute instrumental "Misery Waltz" is not a throwaway.

Add it all up and time invested in "Skull 13" results in a healthy return for newcomers and SLEEPY HOLLOW fans alike, no small feat in a (metal) market that has been anything but predictable these last few years. This one is an easy recommendation for any fan of traditional heavy metal that based in the old school, yet sounding vibrant in 2012.