History & Biography Denmark-based speed metal act Crucible had its The Savage Weapon demo released on cassette (limited to 100 copies) and digital format through From The Vaults on January 26th 2024. The band was working on a full-length. Formed by guitarists Thomas Carnell and Jon Brogård and joined by singer Phillip Butler, the group featured Impalers and Pectora members. Crucible had a single called Deathdealer through From The Vaults in May 2025. Kenneth Frandsen was on bass and Ole Iversen was on drums. Crucible's Hail To The Force was scheduled for September 2025. Recording had begun in December 2024 with tracking for the rhythm guitars and bass at Thomas’ apartment, before Crucible entered Angioni Studios on Mors in early January 2025 just before a massive snowstorm hit.
Reviews CRUCIBLE - HAIL TO THE FORCE - FROM THE VAULTS 
The promise and expectations surrounding Crucible ultimately exceeded the music itself, but this still ends up turning out to be an above-average release. It is just that, based on the description and the publicity, I was looking forward to Hail To The Force with a fair bit of anticipation. Speed metal is not only scarce, but also a favourite sub-genre. The debut album of Crucible is still something that was a fun listen, yet none of the songs grabbed me as a whole.
Before going any further, however, this writer is of two minds regarding the cover artwork. It appears dynamic and fast and is undeniably metallic, but it also obviously clones Judas Priest's Screaming For Vengeance and Defenders Of The Faith and has pink in it. Yes, pink.
In a way, the cover is promising, and the bass crackling, the speedy start exciting and the titles metal all the way, but none of the songs make one's blood boil. The band is stuck on the description of speed metal as its sub-genre, but there are power metal, heavy metal and hard rock parts on the record. There are many fast parts, but they are neither consistent nor the sole features.
On the track by track front, the album begins with speed and fury and quickly establishes the band as true to the early tenets of metal. Opening number Deathdealer and Redwing come across as similar. Embrace Of Steele has an intriguing guitar rhythm. Deathdealer has twin guitar solos and a furious rhythm, but the sololing on Embrace... is better. Far Beyond The Grave is a hard rocker. Splashed To The Four Winds offers a different tone. There are two titles with 'force' in them, Evilforce and Hail To The Force. The latter is a simple song, which is also typical of the album as a whole. While My Guitar Gently Sweeps is neither true to its title nor connected to The Beatles to the best of my knowledge. It does introduce electronica, which is ironic again given the track's title. It sure sounds like a drum machine operating on it as well. Mad Minute ends the album in 2+ minutes.
The vocals are a mix of Overkill, Warlord, Agent Steel and Blizzard Hunter. That's not a bad thing, but the 'oooohhs' and 'aaahhhs' evoke Bruce Dickinson's habit of filling space and killing time with them - much to my annoyance for the last twenty years. Still, the record is steady and the vocals and guitars both old-school and all over the place. The best feature of this record though remains its lead guitar work with the rest of the band, especially the drummer, needing to step up in the action department. The point was driven home when after multiple listens to Crucible I took out my Warlord Deliver Us EP, Black Knight's Master Of Disaster and Agent Steel Skeptics Apocalypse CDs. The Crucible guys need to just live it up a bit. - Ali "The Metallian"
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