Review by Brexaul on May 16, 2022.

Ah, Canada you magnificent bastard. One of the best places one can nowadays look for quality heavy metal and one of the to-go places for the resurgence of the classic sound! From the that magical place of snow, bears and maple syrup come the mighty Skull Fist, to reclaim their throne after a somewhat disappointing effort on their previous Way Of The Road. I really enjoy the little wordplay on the new album title as it is no secret that the band went through a lot of label hurdles and financial struggles but they are back with a vengeance.

With a significant change in the line-up and now a 3-piece, Zach Schottler had his hands full handling both the insane guitar parts and the vocals and I have to admit I’m a bit impressed with his output in both those fields. The guitars are flaming with their usual inventive riffing and excellent almost-shredding solos, maiden-ish twin harmonies and melodies flying all over the place, while the vocals boast an impressive variety channeling everything from Klaus Meine to Michael Kiske. The rhythm section is concrete solid but breathing enough to compliment that feel-good analog live feeling to the whole production.

The songs are great in their majority and there are several moments that the band “thinks” out of the box, either touching thrashier areas like on 'Crush, Kill, Destroy' or utilizing Scorpions influences like on 'For The Last Time'. There are obviously the more formulaic (read: kickass) Skull Fist moments like 'Long Live The Fist' but overall the album maintains a sense of coherency and it’s well written. The order of the songs also feels like a winning bet, starting with a bang on the two first tracks then racing through the album effortlessly but knowing when to slow down so we can catch our breath. Which brings me to my main problem of Paid In Full...

...the length. I can understand bands opting to write shorter albums for the sake of vinyl pressing or short attention spam hazards and believe me I know their music benefits from the shorter durations as a whole, but a new effort clocking at 33 minutes, especially when it features a re-recording of an old classic just doesn’t cut it. I had the exact same problem with Eternal Champion’s “Ravening Iron”, we pay for music and dammit, we demand music!

Overall this is a very solid effort and a warm welcome back to Schotter & gang with an album that can give repeated, back-to-back plays full of this carefree, silly rockstar attitude that reminds us that not all releases have to be deep thought-evoking opuses and there is still a place for (well written) catchy & easy to digest old fashioned rocking. And damn, those 33 mins just fly by.

Worthy tracks to check: 'Long Live The Fist', 'Warrior Of The North'

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Felix on March 27, 2020.

Profound Evil Presence, the current album of Power from Hell, features simple yet smoothly flowing songs that reflect a good musical understanding while profiting from a professional production. Spellbondage, their work from the year 2009, is different. Very different.

First things first, we must focus on the (so-called) production. This is usually not the most important thing for me as a non-high-fidelity-fetishist. Yet it becomes the main problem whenever one is confronted with a sound that has the power to kill the entire output. Exactly this is the case here. The guitars remain flat, the ridiculous reverb of the vocals does not make things better and, worse still, sometimes the material suffers from volume fluctuations. Or it sounds as if a partly scratched vinyl has been played too many times. No doubt, this production was done by a deaf man after 72 hours without sleep. Or by an idiot without external contacts who was practicing quarantine for the next appearance of a malicious virus instead of looking for a second opinion. Rasping guitars can be a good thing, but a sickly rasping, massively flawed production ruins an album.

But honestly speaking, the 4/4-rhythm dominated tunes also do not make the day much brighter. The guitar work during a lot of tracks is amateurish, predictable and primitive. The 7th track is the first one which is kicked off by an interesting guitar line. 'Fetish of Hell' convinces with dynamic, dark melodies and power. Too bad that another production flaw rips the ears at 1:56 minutes. Nevertheless, this song is a highlight…

…a highlight of a release which is – despite its technical shortcomings – not that bad. I don’t understand how the band got a label with this material, because it really lacks finesse and remarkable musical skills. But some of the songs have a rough charm and maybe we should accept them as the roots of the style that Power from Hell play today elegantly. The voice is monotonous, surprising breaks are absolutely not available and the riffs hail the filthy master of minimalism. And yet, under all these layers of amateurism, imperfection and production disaster, the shabby heart of the band beats with stoic self-confidence. This deserves respect, at least to a certain extent.

A Bathory medley with a pretty strange selection of Quorthon (R.I.P.) tunes finishes the album. Well, cover versions are no core competence of the band (avoid their bloodless adaption of 'Freewheel Burning' at all costs) and the excerpt of “The Return…” shows that one can play this tune surprisingly powerless. Cruel Force did it much better! So, all in all, Spellbondage constitutes an output for people with a very, very strong faith; you must believe in the power of black/thrash metal, regardless of its production. Otherwise the album will remain a dubious thing. 65% for the music minus 10% for the mix.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10