Prior To The Fire

Nearly five years after its 2005 debut album, Hello Master, the Canadian proto-metal quartet Priestess rewarded its patient fans with a sophomore long-player void of filler. Unlike many of its longhaired peers that mine the Black Sabbath sound, Priestess often lays down an infectious boogie you can dance to. “Lady Killer” opens Prior to the Fire with heavily phased guitars before the riffs come flying out of towering amplifiers over a swinging rhythm section. Singer Mikey Heppner is also the lead guitarist, which may account for why he handles his vocal attack with the same precision as if he were treading the scales of a fretboard. As “Raccoon Eyes” chugs along with muscled, meaty, cheeseburger metal riffs, Heppner dips into a lower tenor that he doubles up on, much like the twin leads blasting through the solo. “The Firebird” walks the line between hard rock and heavy metal with galloping drums and dazzling fretboard work that at times recall a pre-UFO Michael Schenker (such as when he played on The Scorpions’ 1972 debut album, Lonesome Crow).