{"id":509821,"date":"2026-04-03T00:11:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/509821\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T00:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T00:11:09","slug":"chalice-divine-spear-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/509821\/","title":{"rendered":"Chalice – Divine Spear Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Rocking the same lineup since 2016, Helsinki foursome Chalice returns to serve up their sophomore offering, Divine Spear. Debut Trembling Crown dropped at the tail-end of 2020, and just over five years later, its follow-up retains Chalice\u2019s essence while evolving the previous album\u2019s rugged character. Where Trembling Crown rumbles with a raucous vigor, Divine Spear more often exudes a silky, polished sheen, enlivening its tracks with slick guitars, a vibrant production, and Jethro Tullian flourishes. The brew may have matured, but the core ingredients remain the same\u2014so let us quaff from the Chalice and see if the draught is divine enough to raise our spears!<\/p>\n

Chalice covers a variegated landscape of inspirations on Divine Spear, drawing from the realms of heavy metal and hard rock. Especially refreshing about Chalice\u2019s ingestion of influences is their ability to seamlessly weave homage into their songs. \u201cHollow Curtain,\u201d for instance, radiates top-T\u00fdr<\/a> charisma throughout verse and chorus, with vocalist Verneri Benjamin Pouttu sustaining notes that echo Heri Joensen\u2019s longship-ready croon. Later in the song, particularly in the solo, the marrow of Iron Maiden<\/a> crackles with a guitar tone ripped from Brave New World<\/a>. This modus operandi holds true throughout the album, whether it\u2019s the Ian Anderson flute toots in \u201cEmpyrean Liturgy,\u201d the \u201cAqualung\u201d-coded solo from \u201cAge Ethereal,\u201d or the Pink Floydian psychedelia of \u201cAlioth,\u201d which is redolent of \u201cComfortably Numb\u201d and patchouli. Despite the diverse calls to other bands, Chalice\u2019s magic on Divine Spear lies in blending inspirations into a cohesive whole, taking the sounds of influences and knitting them into a unified platter informed by muses rather than mimicking them.<\/p>\n

\ufeffDivine Spear by Chalice<\/a><\/p>\n

Aiding the lush instrumentation on Divine Spear, Chalice nails the production and mix. The dynamic range boasts an impressive score, and while that doesn\u2019t guarantee a great soundscape, it proves true here. Divine Spear sounds incredible throughout its forty-eight minutes, regardless of whether I\u2019m listening in my car, through my headphones, or on my phone speaker. The six-string tandem of Mikael Cristian Haavisto and guitarist\/vocalist Pouttu is especially arresting, from the twists and chugs of \u201cDwell of a Stellar Trance\u201d to the acoustic warbles in \u201cMare Imbrium\u201d and \u201cEmpyrean Liturgy.\u201d Chalice\u2019s rhythm section also avails itself niftily, never quite in the spotlight but handily hammering away in service of the songs. Drummer Olli T\u00f6rr\u00f6nen rarely reaches fever pitch, but neither is he content to remain planted in the pocket, loosing a quick fill here and a double-kick roll there. No moment ever feels compressed or too busy, and the overarching aural experience goes down as smooth as Joni Adrian Petander\u2019s bass.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Offsetting the myriad reasons to love Divine Spear, Chalice\u2019s subtle songwriting occasionally suppresses what could be an even better album. Divine Spear is rife with variety, both in pacing and instrumentation, but while satisfyingly spirited moments dot the experience, too often I feel like Chalice holds back rather than capitalizing on big moments. According to the Bandcamp page, the band delivers \u2018poignant shifts into cleaner, quieter territory, truly heightening the drama.\u2019 This rings true, but composing livelier moments, particularly on \u201cEmpyrean Liturgy\u201d and \u201cAlioth,\u201d could elevate songs by imbuing atmospheres with a contrast that ratchets up tension rather than maintaining a subdued pace for six minutes. And speaking of runtimes, every now and again, song durations on Divine Spear push past what\u2019s needed. Other than \u201cAge Ethereal,\u201d whose eight minutes could be significantly trimmed, Chalice does well not going far past tracks\u2019 expiration dates. Still, tightening them up would engender greater results.<\/p>\n

In total, Chalice proves their interpretation of trad metal works as well through a gentler lens as it does on their rough-and-tumble debut. The choruses catch, the riffs hook, and the music feels familiar and novel all at once, eliciting an engaging encounter that rewards multiple listens. A few small adjustments could make an immediate and outsized impact, though I have to emphasize that, even as is, Divine Spear merits a listen. There\u2019s no doubt Chalice possesses a winning recipe, and I hope we don\u2019t have to wait quite so long for their next effort. Until then, Divine Spear\u2019s formulation is plenty Good enough.<\/p>\n

Rating: Good!
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Dying Victims Productions<\/a>
Websites: Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: February 27th, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rocking the same lineup since 2016, Helsinki foursome Chalice returns to serve up their sophomore offering, Divine Spear.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[47816,6446,178470,178471,146170,96,151821,54252,11652,13565,31138,128,15742,263,129,178472,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-509821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-47816","9":"tag-3-0","10":"tag-chalice","11":"tag-divine-spear","12":"tag-dying-victims-productions","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-feb26","15":"tag-finnish-metal","16":"tag-heavy-metal","17":"tag-iron-maiden","18":"tag-jethro-tull","19":"tag-music","20":"tag-pink-floyd","21":"tag-review","22":"tag-reviews","23":"tag-tyr","24":"tag-uk","25":"tag-united-kingdom","26":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}