Band: Crystal Viper
Album title: Legends
Label: AFM Records
Distributor: Rock Inc. - Bertus
Release date: 22/10/2010
Release: CD

Crystal Viper started their Heavy Metal adventure in 2003 in Poland, after being formed by Marta Gabriel (vocalist, guitarist, pianist) and her husband Bart Gabriel (producer, manager and music journalist). Wanting to be a heavy metal band, they wanted also to be slightly different than others and added the element of old Polish Legends to give it a little folk touch. After finding a solid line up and several demo recordings and compilation appearances, the band got signed with Karthago Records and a debut concept album came out in 2007 witch received a lot of positive attention from press and fans.

Now in 2010 the band found a new label to help them (AFM Records) and under this new banner released mentioned live album but also the brand new studio album titled “Legends”.
First of it is a nice change to hear a female singer giving heavy metal a try (instead of the gothic genre) and actually doing a good job at it. The polish legends give the story driven songs a little bonus but a relative small one due to the fact people outside of Poland don’t actually know those legends. The music itself is well balanced and has lots of variation, you get old school riffing and even some soft ballads in between. The songs themselves however may sound a bit strange due to the not so ordinary structures of the songs witch makes them unpredictable and original.

Certainly not a bad album that's worth giving a listen.

86/100

Jeroen.