Dagger - Summer Demo 2005
Independent
Heavy Metal/Rock
3 songs ()
Release year: 2005
Reviewed by Crims

Dagger is a band from Mexico which features mostly female members, including a female vocalist. They’ve been together for a few years and have been doing live shows throughout Mexico quite frequently it would appear and this is their first demo. Featuring three songs, Dagger’s sound can be compared to those NWOBHM bands in the 80’s which consistently and constantly flirted with Hard Rock. Mix that with a touch of Black Sabbath and you have a good foundation for what this demo sounds like.

If you remember back in the early 80’s (which I honestly don’t remember since that is when I was born, but it’s been well documented) NWOBHM was one of the biggest things in Rock Music and everybody and their brother was getting together bands and releasing demos, singles, and full-lengths. This happened with Nu-Metal, it’s sort of happening with Metalcore, and it happened with Glam. There was a lot of crap that came and went and there were some hidden gems that came and went as well. The point of this is that Dagger reminds me of one of those bands from that era. Though I wouldn’t call the sound sloppy, it has a garage band, unpolished feel to it which I think is on purpose. I read one review of this demo that compared the bands sound to old Diamond Head and I would tend to agree in a certain regard.

Musically the bands sound is very up tempo with the riffs being the main focus of each of three songs. Falling somewhere between Sabbath and Hard Rock influenced NWOBHM the riffs I feel are the best part about this demo. They have dirty, crunchy tone to them (perhaps why I keep thinking Black Sabbath) with a Rock sensibility that makes the songs more memorable and enjoyable than they would be otherwise. The choruses are simple but effective with the chorus from Black River being stuck in my head since I received the demo. As mentioned the vocalist is female and the band doesn’t use it as a gimmick and approach the lyrics like any male singer would, which is the bands intention. I must admit certain vocal lines were a little rough around the edges but this goes hand in hand with the garage band feel and attitude and whether or not you like that would be completely dependent on your feelings of this style of Metal. I would say it works here but if there is one spot the band could improve on is a more consistent vocal delivery and I think a professional producer and experience could help with this.

What I like more than anything about this demo is the bands approach to music. They consider themselves a Rock band, and they consider themselves a Metal band (and both would be correct). They have a certain attitude and flair for this dirty style of Metal/Rock that more or less disappeared from mass consumption by the mid-80’s. I have to be honest and say that I’ve never been a huge fan of NWOBHM, aside from Iron Maiden and Angel Witch, among a few others, but this band set out to accomplish certain things with their music and they definitely accomplish those things. They also don’t pretend to be anything their not. Above all else the music is sincere and because of that I have to say I enjoyed this demo.

Killing Songs :
Keep Running, Black River
Crims quoted no quote
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