Dying Victims Productions, jewelcase, sticker, obi, COLTRE are a heavy metal band based in London, formed in the summer of 2019 when lead guitarist Daniel Sweed and guitarist/vocalist Marco Stamigna crossed paths at the same university. Bassist Max Graves, who also attended the same university, soon joined the lineup. The trio’s shared passion and creative ideas laid the groundwork for their debut release, the EP Under The Influence. Between September and November of 2019, COLTRE diligently worked on the EP, initially developed as a four-track mini-album. In December of the same year, they released the single “Crimson Killer.” Under The Influence made its debut in February 2020, initially in a self-released CD format, a true DIY edition. The EP’s success caught the attention of DYING VICTIMS, who sought to collaborate with the band. This collaboration resulted in the re-release of Under The Influence in multiple formats, including an additional track (the song “Fight”), in July. The year 2020 concluded with the addition of Edoardo Mariotti to the lineup, taking on the role of drummer for the band. With the quartet now complete, COLTRE embarked on the arrangement and development of songs that would ultimately become their debut album, To Watch With Hands To Touch With Eyes. If the moody metallic majesty of Under The Influence was a portent of things to come, then To Watch With Hands To Touch With Eyes takes everything to the next level. COLTRE’s charismatic sound is still in place, thankfully – dark ‘n’ mysterious riffs, vigorously galloping rhythms, epic-yet-direct compositions, and the sage-like pipes of Stamigna atop it all – but there’s crucial distinctions here. For one, there’s a crisper sound at play across the LP; the recording’s sharper yet still rustic, perhaps a bit more hard rock in style than the NWOBHM of its predecessor. As such, the band suitably sound even livelier and more locked-in than before, with Mariotti’s many-armed drumming in particular guiding COLTRE to new destinations (and dungeons, and battlefields!). Further, their songwriting still hovers around six minutes per track, but everything feels more compact without losing the latent epicness. Most crucially, there’s a strut and swagger across To Watch With Hands To Touch With Eyes that’s IMPOSSIBLE to deny, such on the Tubeway Army-spoofing “Friends Aren’t Electric.” One could still be mistaken for thinking COLTRE were some unearthed relic from the original NWOBHM movement, so hot-rockin’ is their swords-aloft surge, evoking high fantasy and urban grit in equal measure, but most importantly retaining that pivotal rock ‘n’ roll thrust Thin Lizzy largely gifted to that movement. But, with increased dynamic interplay and impossibly stronger songs, To Watch With Hands To Touch With Eyes wipes the slate clean and casts COLTRE as new “old” monarchs in the making!
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