On a smaller scale, Cruz Del Sur is to current heavy/traditional metal what Morrisound and Sunlight Records represented to early death metal or Metal Blade was to early ‘80s American metal. A look at the label’s current roster will give you a who’s who of contemporary American heavy metal – Slough Feg, Hammers of Misfortune, Widow & Icarus Witch to name a few. A more than worthy inclusion to such illustrious company is the Philadelphian quartet Pharaoh, boasting in their ranks the golden pipes of ex- Control Denied frontman Tim Aymar and also the guest services of ex- Megadeth six-string wielder Chris Poland.

In an era where Maiden-esque twin harmonies are flaunted largely and unimpressively by second to third rate melodic death metal bands, Pharaoh’s unflinching allegiance to the trademark dual guitar attack and the all but copyrighted Iron Maiden gallop gladden the heavy metal connoisseur by reclaiming what has always rightfully belonged to this genre. To dismiss Pharaoh as a mere Maiden clone would be doing gross injustice to the band’s supreme musical abilities. Sure, Pharaoh do wear their influences on their sleeve but this does not in any way imply that the music is drab or derivative by any stretch of imagination.

The Longest Night is Pharaoh’s sophomore effort and the sound here is easily more evolved and sophisticated than their debut After The Fire. The album kicks off with the epic Sunrise. Pharaoh waste no time in swooping in hard on the twin guitars and 13 seconds into the album, you are greeted with a tasty lick superbly reminiscent of Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden. Throughout the album, the longer, more epic songs derive their mechanics from Iron Maiden opuses like Loneliness Of A Long Distance Runner or Stranger In A Strange Land. The shorter songs like I am the Hammer and The Longest Night take the thrash-meets-brit heavy metal sensibilities of Iced Earth soaked in good quantities of ‘80s American true power metal like Manilla Road and Crimson Glory. The 4^th track, By The Night Sky is by far my favourite piece of work on the album. Starting off with a mellow guitar intro, the song switches between healthy, trotting sections, slow verses that bring out Aymar’s voice brilliantly and open chord, anthemic chorus parts with one of the most well executed solos in recent metal memory. The album on the whole is quite lengthy (clocking in at nearly 55 minutes of playtime), owing to an abundance of epic songs but the good thing about Pharaoh is that at no point do they let the album slip away into filler material of any sort. Every song is refreshingly well written and different from the other, although they operate largely within a given framework of songwriting.

Matt Johnsen is quite technically proficient with the 6 string, meaning that we get to hear a pleasing plentitude of solos, a trait which has been sorely missed in heavy metal in the recent past. And I’m talking about real, melodic solos that fit the songs, not contrived pieces of wizardry inserted to ride on the individual skills of the musicians in the band. Bassman Chris Kerns plays an able foil to Johnsen with some solid low-end backing but occasionally endeavors to show us he is no pushover with some really interesting non-rhythmic basslines. Tim Aymar is definitely one of the best vocalists in metal today and his performance on the album is nothing less than scintillating.

Overall, the band sounds tight, well in control and most importantly of all, METAL through and through. The absurdities we endure today in the name of power metal courtesy of the cloying proliferation of Blind Guardian/Helloween clones from the Balkan regions notwithstanding, this is REAL power metal, the kind which was birthed from a natural progression of the early’80s stalwarts.

It is sad that this album which might actually be a landmark in contemporary heavy metal, comparable to The August Engine or Down Among The Deadmen is languishing in relative obscurity, recognized and hailed by a niche audience but sadly overlooked or neglected by a lot of the metal community. Well, I’m doing my bit to promote them. Highly recommended!

Year of release: 2006

Label: Cruz Del Sur Records