Fate’s Hand is the crossroads for members of Aussie metallic heavyweights Mongrel’s Cross, Impetuous Ritual, and Stargazer. Indeed, if the Bifröst bridge spanned hemispheres as well as Midgard and Asgard, then the blood and souls of heroes from the edges of time immemorial would be present in Fate’s Hand. The cross-staters (from Adelaide to Brisbane) aren’t a take on Norwegians TNT, Swedes Heavy Load, or Americans Liege Lord, but rather a continuation of what they represented (in aggregate) at their earliest incarnations. Indeed, while heavy metal is the latest fad, Fate’s Hand offer a different take on tried and true formulas. Their brand of old-school insanity is immediately recognizable, but imparts a different feel, as if created with conviction and performed with heavy metal zeitgeist close at hand.
Across the eponymous four-song EP, Fate’s Hand gallop, jam out ridiculous melodies, soar vocally, and reflect on those lost to the ages. Songs like “Fascination” and “When the Wolf Comes” are predicated on a rejuvenated sense of community, a true denim and leather call to 1983. But this isn’t just a nostalgic rip. Fate’s Hand are masters of the craft, sometimes hooky (“Fascination”), others meandering and wild (title track). In a way, this is like an interesting pairing of Lightning to the Nations-era Diamond Head and Hammerheart-era Bathory, with more wrath and attack. Of course, we, Decibel, couldn’t say it any better than Fate’s Hand themselves, so without further ado: “We attack with four odes of axe-age heavy metal. For headbangers, warriors and shield-maidens alike. Fate’s Hand heralds a new dawn. A dawn with no wolf in chase.”
It’s the sign of the southern cross for us to unite under the banner of Fate’s Hand. We yell together “Tyr!”
