Artist: Priester
Country: Finland
Label: Self-Released
Formats: Demo Tape
Year: 2025
Priester, a new Heavy/Speed Metal band from Finland, was built upon the bits and pieces that were left after Borley Rectory was put on ice – or at least, so it seems. Three of the four members of Borley Rectory decided to join forces and push the pace a bit more than in their previous/other band. But it is quite remarkable to hear that the signature Timi “T.T. Lord” Ala-Sippola sound has been transferred to Priester almost unchanged.
While the guy’s previous efforts with Borley Rectory is definitely and deeply rooted in classic Heavy Metal that balances somewhere between traditional NWOBHM, Scorpions and the more Swedish sort of sound of bands like Torch, Priester throws in some delicate Speed Metal elements. With fast and aggressive riffs and up-tempo drums, it even borders on Thrash Metal at times. That makes ‘Let The Blood Run Red’ a thoroughly versatile little treat.
In just under fifteen minutes the band shows off their skills. It is hard to tell from the pictures what age these lads are, but regardless of their age, they do know their classics. Judging from this debut demo it wouldn’t be too hard guessing what their favourite bands or records are. And, based on these four tracks they do fit seamlessly within the, what they call, “New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal”, alongside bands such as Rapid and Ranger. A nice raw and gnarly sound is the icing on the cake and makes them a great fit to that early NWOBHM sound as well – listen to the closing solo/lead in ‘Sodom & Gomorrah’ for instance, that is a genuine A-class early Iron Maiden lead.
People who are into bands like Jaguar, Angelwitch, Blitzkrieg, early-Raven, Trance, Gotham City, Heavy Load, Venom or even bands like Agent Steel, Exciter and Abbatoir would do themselves a favour of checking out this demo. It is obtainable by emailing the band for a copy, mail address is on their Bandcamp-page. What are you waiting for?
