Translated from the original French
Their demo "Fear No Evil" (ranked no. 3 in the best Christian hard demos in no. 2 of the fanzine AMR) suggested a brilliant future for this band, which at the time was working in a melodic heavy, certainly, but a heavy that knew how to touch the sensitive strings of the little metalvores that we are. Now, since "Fear No Evil", water has flowed under the bridges of Seattle, their home city... And WATCHMEN offers us an album of very high quality, that is undeniable, but it is not really what we were expecting from them...! From the first track, "Turn", WATCHMEN puts us in the picture: guitars, certainly, but as "musical background"...
The keyboards, on the other hand, take that one in the face...!!! Oh, of course, the keyboards are used without bad taste, but for those who are allergic to them, it is irritating. The compositions are very cool on the whole, the biggest smashes being "Turn", "Breakin' The Chains", "United", and "Defenders". The vocals are excellent right down the line, sometimes tender ("Best Friends", "One Day"), sometimes more aggressive ("Breakin' The Chains"). Greg Sweet is definitively a good hard singer. The guitarist, David Van Liew, makes particularly luminous appearances ("Breakin' The Chains", "Defenders",...) The drummer and the bassist offer a solid rhythm section, unfortunately too discreet...
The production is very clean, very pro... Terry SHELTON, who produced BLOODGOOD, knows his job. But neither the quality of WATCHMEN's musicians, nor the quality of the production, saves the furniture for the band... A pity for us, the metalheads in love with beefsteak, so much the better for the lovers of pop and of ultra-sugared cocktails (there is even sax...!! "I Will Be There", "Best Friend"...)!!! Let us note in passing the participation of Les CARLSEN (BLOODGOOD) and of his wife, Joyce CARLSEN, on backing vocals. On the lyrics side, no criticism, it is excellent. In short, what we have here is an irreproachable product, and an excellent one in every seam... WATCHMEN is a very good band... But real heavy suits them so much better...!!! Let us hope that the second album will reveal to us the true WATCHMEN... "Generation" will then have been no more than a simple false start...
Other coverage for this album
Heaven's Metal #21Reviewed by Doug Van PeltSeattle, Washington has offered the music world lots of talent: Heart; Queensryche; Metal Church; and Bloodgood. The latest talented group to emerge from this hotbed is Watchmen. (Got that? Watchmen, not "The Watchmen"...just Watchmen) Here's some mature music for all rock and rollers. That's right, this is not your strict heavy metal album. It's got metal guitars, screaming vocals, monster…
