PICTURE - Old Dogs New Tricks

Some of you (the older ones mostly) might remember the Dutch heavy metalers Picture that somewhere in the middle of the 80’s made a name for themselves by offering us amazing albums like “Diamond Dealer” and “Eternal Dark” (whose title track was also covered by Hammerfall) unfortunately in the late 80’s the members of the band parted ways to reunite 20 years later and to be more specific in 2008 and to release this beauty.
\r\nBut, enough with the history of Picture, let’s focus on the music. Those familiar with Picture and their discography so far, more or less you’ll know what to expect, as for the rest let’s mention that Picture fancy what we now call “Classic Heavy Metal” (it was just “Metal” once…) and by preserving the sound of that era they deliver an album worthy of the name they made for themselves, even if it was mostly on the underground. 12 compositions of inspired pure heavy metal (listen to “Blood Out Of A Stone”, “High On Fire” and “Live By The Sword” and you’ll know exactly what I mean) on the tracks of good old Iron Maiden and Saxon, which sometimes speed up and others slow down to a more mid tempo songs. Pete Lovell’s voice sounds great and hoarse reminding me that of Paul Dianno back in the day.
\r\nThe production, being not the best there is, entwines the songs with that good old feeling of times past (sounds a bit nostalgic too) making the album sounding like if it was released 20 years ago!
\r\nPicture of 2010 are doing what they do best, what they have begun 30 years ago, they’re playing Heavy Metal straight from the heart and “Old Dogs New Tricks” is the finest example of how Heavy Metal should sound (or how it was sounding back then…). I am certain that all those who are into “Classic” Heavy Metal will dig this one. Some will blame them for being “old fashioned” while some others may complain about the “purity” of the sound expecting a more modern approach. It doesn’t really matter.
\r\nAfter alll, (fortunaly!) you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!
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\r\nDimitris Karantounias\r\n