![\"Cover](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Phantom-Spell-Heather-Hearth-500x500.jpg\")
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During the 16 years that AMG has been a thing, I have criticized the trend of reaching back for the sounds of yore and creating high-fidelity copies. Dubbed \u201cNostalgiacore,\u201d I regularly razzed Steel Druhm<\/strong> about his obsession with his lost glory days and heartily rolled my eyes at Rethrash. I thumbed my nose at the 3,500 bands a week we were getting in 2015, wearing bell-bottoms and writing Black Sabbath<\/strong> riffs 45 years after Black Sabbath was released; each rehashing blues rock as though originality was a four-letter word and fuzz pedals were personality. But recently, perhaps sick of the downward spiral towards the ever more \u201catmospheric\u201d and \u201cbrutal,\u201d I have found the simple pleasures of \u201cgood, honest heavy metal\u201d calling to me. First, it was Wytch Hazel<\/strong><\/a>, then it was Grendel\u2019s Syster<\/strong><\/a>. Now, it\u2019s Phantom Spell<\/strong>\u2019s Heather & Hearth.<\/p>\n \ufeffHeather & Hearth by Phantom Spell<\/a><\/p>\n Phantom Spell<\/strong> is the brainchild of Seven Sisters<\/strong> singer and guitarist Kyle McNeill. A multi-instrumentalist, studio magician, and eminent purveyor of nostalgiacore, Phantom Spell<\/strong> calls back to the days of Steel Druhm<\/strong>\u2018s youth, when men were men and rockstars could play instruments. When songs were melodic and catchy<\/a>, but the guys writing them had all studied piano since the age when their moms could smack them upside the head with impunity, so they were good at music, if, admittedly, slightly traumatized. And Phantom Spell<\/strong> hews close to this tradition, featuring what sounds like a fully functional \u201970s prog unit. Strong drums and earthy bass rumble beneath lightly distorted guitars\u2014liable to drop into harmonies at any second, exposing the rhythm section. It calls to mind Manilla Road<\/strong> and Kansas<\/strong>, Wishbone Ash<\/strong>, or even early Iron Maiden<\/strong>. But when the Hammond kicks in on opener \u201cThe Autumn Citadel,\u201d I get flashbacks to The Summer of Camel<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n But no record truly pops without top-notch production. One of the genuine strengths of Heather & Hearth is a strong sense of balance. I\u2019m reminded of Exile<\/a> by Black Sites<\/strong>, where traditional hard rock composition and perfectly balanced production combined to create a live feel. So too, McNeill picks his spots, never overloading the mix or betraying the illusion of a live band. His production lends to the realism of the production by leaving the bass and drums as exposed elements when keys and guitars drop into harmonies (\u201cEvil Hand,\u201d for example). The feel is classic and beautiful, showing off the perfect balance that he\u2019s struck with the tone. Some of this feels like an illusion, however. When listening closely to the harmonies, for example, in the gorgeous bonus track \u201cOld Pendle,\u201d they sound inhumanly tight, which suggests careful and aggressive processing.<\/p>\n This is a great record, and the only thing left for Heather & Hearth to prove is that it has staying power. From the opening \u201cbew bew bews\u201d of the organs, to the *insert nature sounds here* that close the album out, Heather & Hearth is a triumphant exploration of songwriting. From the melodies to the solos to the amazing harmonies, Phantom Spell<\/strong> sounds like a band with huge aspirations. For that reason, it is actually a little disappointing that it\u2019s a solo project. In my listening notes, I wrote: \u201cMy god, imagine finding five dudes who could sing these harmonies live in 2025.\u201d Phantom Spell<\/strong> makes me genuinely long for a time when it would have been impossible for Phantom Spell<\/strong> to exist. And while that\u2019s an amazing success, it\u2019s a bittersweet one.<\/p>\n Rating: Great! \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During the 16 years that AMG has been a thing, I have criticized the trend of reaching back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3936],"tags":[743,12294,107883,107884,107885,77,107886,25347,91261,11917,107887,269,107888,107889,107890,107891,24761,107892,6080,6082,107893,62741,21477,107894,16,15,107895],"class_list":{"0":"post-289375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-743","9":"tag-4-0","10":"tag-black-sites","11":"tag-camel","12":"tag-cruz-del-sur-music","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-heather-hearth","15":"tag-iron-maiden","16":"tag-jul25","17":"tag-kansas","18":"tag-manilla-road","19":"tag-music","20":"tag-nwothm","21":"tag-opeth","22":"tag-pale-communion","23":"tag-phantom-spell","24":"tag-progressive-metal","25":"tag-progressive-rock","26":"tag-review","27":"tag-reviews","28":"tag-saviour-machine","29":"tag-seven-sisters","30":"tag-tom-petty","31":"tag-trad-metal","32":"tag-uk","33":"tag-united-kingdom","34":"tag-wishbone-ash"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114911336743984989","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Zepic_Photos_901815-333x500.jpg\")
Like its musical forebears, Phantom Spell<\/strong> pops because of its composition and vocals. McNeill has an ear for classic prog structures\u2014shifting time signatures, dueling guitar leads, and that organ that instantly dates the sound\u2014but what elevates Heather & Hearth is how he binds these elements to purposeful songwriting. The record never feels like a pastiche; instead, it plays like a Tolkienesque love letter written in the margins of well-worn records, borrowing vocabulary but constructing its own syntax. Tracks like \u201cA Distant Shore\u201d and \u201cSiren Song\u201d fuse supple melodic phrasing with rhythmic variation, while \u201cEvil Hand\u201d twists in a familiar rock chassis that both evokes Tom Petty<\/strong>\u2019s classic \u201cRefugee\u201d and Opeth<\/strong>. McNeill\u2019s range\u2014from his surprisingly strong low register (reminiscent of Eric Clayton from Saviour Machine <\/strong>[\u201cThe Autumn Citadel\u201d]) to his cherubic high end\u2014carries emotional weight without ever rubbing shoulders with cheesy. He layers harmonies like someone who grew up singing along to Leftoverture or The Snow Goose, and he knows when to pull everything back to let a bass groove breathe. Heather & Hearth is littered with excellent choices that suggest a composer with taste. McNeill understands balance and crafted an album that features it.<\/p>\n![\"Kyle](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Zepic_Photos_425282-333x500.jpg\")
Taken as a whole, I particularly appreciate Heather & Hearth\u2019s structure. Clocking in at about 37 minutes, the record is bookended by two 11-minute songs and filled in with shorter tracks. The composition ebbs and flows between the energetic and the melancholic and fragile. These mountains and valleys are both a strength and a weakness. For me, McNeill reaches his peak when he\u2019s moving and shaking. There is an undeniable energy when the bass and drums are pulsing and he\u2019s throwing off shackles, harmonizing guitars, and driving the music forward. The other side to Phantom Spell<\/strong> is achingly beautiful, and things I love on their own. But the strength of the album is its strong proto-metal heart, and I wish I could hear it beating a little louder throughout.<\/p>\n
DR:<\/strong> 8 | Format Reviewed:<\/strong> 320kb\/s CBR MP3s
Label:<\/strong> Cruz del Sur Music<\/a>
Websites:<\/strong> phantomspell.bandcamp.com<\/a> | http:\/\/linktr.ee\/phantomspell<\/a>
Release Date: <\/strong>July 18th, 2025<\/p>\n