Blame Zeus (makes a change from blaming Canada) are from Portugal, and formed in 2010. They have two earlier releases under their belts, and aim to make “the push” with Seethe and get their name known outside of the borders of their home territory. Straddling the line between hard rock and heavy metal they’re certainly targeting an audience with plenty to choose from.
The opening salvo of “How to Successfully Implode” bodes well. A solid, pounding rocker of a track with some nice simple riffs and structure, all wrapped around Sandra Oliveira’s strong vocal performance. If anything, “Déjà Vu” is even better and really shows off the simple but effective production. Celso Oliveira’s bass strumming can be clearly heard alongside Ricardo Silveira’s steady, reliable drum beats. Between them Paulo Silva and Tiago Lascasas keep twelve strings vibrating, making the rhythm and lead sections both sound deceptively simple. The song starts at a fairly mellow pace, but gets really heavy towards the end with the bass and drums really pounding.
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Add in some crunching numbers like “No” and the foot-stomping “The Crown and The Gun” and there’s a good chance to bang your head for 45 minutes or so. It’s not all heavy stuff, though. Blame Zeus have popped the lighter, and slightly proggy, “White” into the album as well. Starting with acoustic guitars and airy vocals it steps through various stages before reing the rest of the album with it’s rockier ending.
Playing through the whole album, you get the feeling that everything is built around Sandra’s vocals. They’re central to every song, and always crystal clear in the mix without drowning out the music. She’s got a fair range – nothing as wide-ranging as the symphonic artists who seem to straddle octaves in an unnatural fashion, but at no point throughout the album does her voice lack power.
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For a good sample, I’ve plucked “No” out of their collection of videos for you to check out below. A solid, reliable hard rock / metal album with some great all-round performances.
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