Hailing from Mumbai and playing a style of Metal that takes as much from Mercyful Fate as it does from Megadeth, Albatross’ debut EP is a promising display of powers, mixing horror story dramatics (based on King Diamond album lyrics, apparently) with melodic riffing and soloing to create a fusion that will appeal to many. The band have good contacts; mastered by Andy LaRocque, with design help from Snowy Shaw, the EP is short but impressive. After a brief intro (The Great Plague Of The 21st Century) The Dining Table begins with some groovy stop-start riffing interjected with overly-dramatic vocals in a way that reminded me of Megadeth’s Sweating Bullets, before kicking up into a gallop and the vocals turn towards almost True Doom territory. The guitars take over then, more technical groove riffing and extended soloing bringing the track to an end.

Throughout, it’s the guitarists that are most impressive. The powerful attack that opens In The Court Of Kuru is quite entrancing, and almost let down by the silly vocals that follow it – expect neither traditional Power Metal nor Thrash, this is the band’s take on a fusion of both. They even manage to make the nine-minute Amongst The Cannibals listenable despite the track never really doing much, ending with a display of guitar pyrotechnics that makes the whole thing worth it. Yet what ultimately lets me down is the emphasis on the atmosphere of the horror stories the band are trying to tell, which in effect means little apart from the vocalist contorting his voice. Buried beneath it all is a killer riffing machine, and I hope that they’ll be let loose on future releases from the band. Not bad for a first attempt, certainly promising for fans of Mercyful Fate, but Albatross have to write songs around their guitarists’ skills in the future rather than, you know, cannibals.