Description

2017 press. Double album on black vinyls with gatefold cover. This also features a rare previously unreleased first mix of the album as bonus

Originally known as Blood Wave, this Parisian Heavy Metal outfit adopted the name Sortilege (Sorcery) in October 1981 and duly found a ready audience in thier homeland as they toured as support to Samson and Def Leppard in 1983. The group debuted in Britain with the track ‘Cyclope De L’etang’ on the Ebony Records compilation album ‘Metal Warriors’, but signed to German label Steamhammer for a string of albums after releasing their first ever, self-titled affair on the Dutch Rave On label. The opening album for Steamhammer would be 1984’s ‘Metamorphose’, released domestically via Devil’s Recordings. Metalmorphose was this band best album from their all too short discography. At the time, Sortilege was often cited together with bands like Heir Apparent or Crimson Glory, even Queensryche, in that their music built on the classic NWOBHM style that all those young musicians no doubt were huge fans of, but expanded on the sound in a similar direction – still more melodic (if possible), with a strong reliance on strong, well-executed falsetto or falsetto-ish singing where the singer actually hit his notes, well-crafted classical-influenced guitar solos, and fantasy-related lyrical themes. Sound familiar? In fact, although the concept did not yet exist, you could call Sortilege embryonic power metal. Christian Augustin, the singer, and Stephane Dumont, the lead guitarist, are top-notch, and it is a shame that none of them has gone on to a great career. Augustin sings wonderful, expressive, hyper-melodic vocal lines with quite inventive melodies that you don’t get to hear on every corner today. He switches without effort from a tenor-like power-metalish voice to a quite impressive falsetto performed with more pressure, strength and melodic sureness than most normal power metal faux-hero tenors can muster; though he sings a little softer and less over-precise, comparisons to Geoff Tate and even Rob Halford are in order. Dumont shreds like Eddie Van Halen, by whom he is doubtless influenced, and in between his crazy, virtuoso, melodic shred orgies he finds talent to play one creative, original riff after the other. Highly recommended to anyone into 80’s metal.

Track list:
1. Dailleurs
2. Majeste
3. Hymne A La Mort
4. Legende
5. Nuit Des Limbes
6. Civilisation Perdue
7. Delire Dun Fou
8. Cyclope De Letang
9. Metamorphose
10. Dailleurs-unreleased first mix
11. Majeste-unreleased first mix
12. Hymne A La Mort-unreleased first mix
13. Legende-unreleased first mix
14. Nuit Des Limbes-unreleased first mix
15. Civilisation Perdue-unreleased first mix
16. Delire Dun Fou-unreleased first mix
17. Cyclope De Letang-unreleased first mix
18. Metamorphose-unreleased first mix