If you like traditional, clean-vocal heavy metal like Judas Priest, Queensryche, Dio, and Iron Maiden, have I got a treat for you! I stumbled across a band called Charred Walls of the Damned while downloading the advance copy of another band’s album from Metal Blade Records. I decided to check these guys out based solely on their name and, man I could not be more pleasantly surprised! It turns out that CWOTD is a metal supergroup consisting of drummer Richard Christy (ex-Iced Earth, ex-Death, and The Howard Stern Show), singer Tim “Ripper” Owens (ex-Judas Priest, ex-Iced Earth), bassist Steve DiGiorgio (his list of credits is as long as your arm and includes Iced Earth, Death, Autopsy, Testament, and Obscura), and guitarist (and metal super producer) Jason Seucof.

It also seems that this is their third record. How on Earth I’m just now finding out about this band is beyond me because their new album Creatures Watching Over the Dead (all of their record titles follow the CWOTD motif) is absolutely amazing! It’s out this Friday (September 23, 2016) and you should definitely check it out.

Pasadena, California band Holy Grail play traditional heavy metal with a modern sensibility. No gutteral vocals here… singer James Paul Luna is a soaring type of vocalist reminiscent of Bruce Dickenson, Rob Halford, Ronnie James Dio, or Jon Oliva. Additionally, the band features some of the most virtuoso guitar playing in the game today, courtesy of Eli Santana and Alex Lee, while bassist Blake Mount and Drummer Tyler Meahl lay down a thundering foundation beneath all of the acrobatics.

Check out the official music video below.