When I first heard that Holy Blood was dropping the folk side of their folk metal signature sound, I was more than a bit worried. Black/death/grind/etc bands can easily become cliché caricatures of their own genre once they lose that particular element that makes them unique. It was the folk that drew me into Holy Blood’s sound initially. However, listening to Day of Vengeance quickly put those fears at ease. While the folk instruments are gone, the unique folk metal time signatures and vocalizations are still present, giving Holy Blood more than enough character to rise above the extreme metal pack. The vocal style is mostly growling that leans towards shouting – a nice mix that comes across well in the mix. This album seems to be a mostly one-man project now, but don’t let that worry you. The songs are brutal, diverse, and powerful. It’s almost as if an entire band is there. Personally, I find the artwork a bit creepy, but that’s a minor nit-pick (and it may have been meant to be that way). Holy Blood may be making some changes, but fans of brutal extreme metal will still find plenty to dig into here.
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