Released By: Napalm Records
Release Date: June 24th, 2022
Genre: Power Metal
Links: https://www.victoriusmetal.net/
Line Up:
David Baßin – Vocals
Dirk Scharsich – Guitar
Florian Zack – Guitar
Andreas Dockhorn – Bass
Frank Koppe – Drums
Tracklist:
1. Saurus Invictus Lazerus
2. Victorious Dinogods
3. Mighty Magic Mammoth
4. Jurassic Jetfighters
5. Dinos and Dragons
6. Katana Kingdom Rising
7. God of Roar
8. Night of the Nuclear Ninja
9. Triceps Ceratops
10. Tyrannosaurus Steel
11. Shadow of the Shinobi
12. Powerzord
Power metal has always been somewhat of an acquired taste within the overall metal scene, often being on the more upbeat, sometimes cheesy, or over-the-top side, as opposed to either being darker, heavier, or moodier like a lot of the other subgenres. In recent years, there’s been an emerging trend of bands taking things to an even further level, fully embracing the silliness of their genre and just going all out with it, trying to come up with the most ridiculous lyrical themes they possibly can. Perhaps the most successful band of this type has been British band Gloryhammer, though in the past few years a new challenger has emerged, in the form of German group Victorius, who have kept their strong momentum going with their sixth and latest full release Dinosaur Warfare Pt. 2 – The Great Ninja War, an album that’s every bit as fun and over the top as its name would suggest.
I said Victorius has emerged more recently, which isn’t the full truth: The band has been around since the mid-2000s, releasing their debut Unleash the Titans in 2010, but while their early albums laid the foundation for what their overall sound would become, they never started with their current, more silly lyrical direction until their 2018 EP Dinosaur Warfare – Legend of the Power Saurus, which began this current saga. With their 2020 full-length release Space Ninjas From Hell, their lyrics and music only became even sillier and crazier, and now with Dinosaur Warfare Pt. 2, they’ve released an album that combines the worlds of both of those past releases, creating a world where mechanized Dinosaurs with lasers can fight against evil, galactic Space Ninjas. The lyrics are meant to be pure fun and not the kind of thing for anyone to overthink, and the band tends to let their imagination run wild throughout the album, so anyone who prefers a minimal amount of cheesiness on a metal album would be well advised to avoid this album. For anyone who can either tolerate or even embrace the silliness, though, Dinosaur Warfare Pt. 2 is an absolute treat, just like the band’s previous few releases.
As far as musical direction goes, fans of Victorius should know what to expect, as this is the same brand of high-energy, often up-tempo, melodic power metal the band has been playing throughout their career. If anything, though, the epic factor has been dialed up quite a bit, along with a more cinematic feel to the overall presentation (complete with some narrations here and there, though thankfully no full narrated tracks like on Space Ninjas from Hell) there’s a stronger symphonic presence than ever before, with most tracks having heavy orchestration, and the keyboards are also more noticeable than ever on some tracks. Though, this is still a guitar-driven album, with some very nice melodic guitar work throughout, as well as bursts of heaviness and some excellent, very melodic solos. Production is flawless, as usual, and performances are excellent across the board, with the musicians all doing a great job, while vocalist David Baßin is fantastic, sounding as smooth and intense as ever, and he truly is special for being able to deliver some of these insanely goofy lyrics and sound so convincing while doing so!
Songwriting is of course very important on any kind of album, and thankfully Dinosaur Warfare Pt.2 holds strong in that area. Most tracks are fast-paced, guitar-driven power metal with some added symphonic flavor and an epic cinematic feel, and I find a lot of the tracks are fairly similar, with the likes of “Mighty Magic Mammoth”, “Dinos and Dragons”, Triceps Ceratops” and “Tyrannosaurus Steel” all blending a bit, but it’s hard to complain about such tracks when they’re so fun and wildly addictive, each having fantastic hooks and super-catchy choruses. “God of Roar” is in similar territory to all these tracks, but I find it goes above and beyond, with the symphonic elements feeling more epic than on any of the other tracks, the riffs hit hard and the chorus is easily the catchiest and most engaging on the entire album, to help make it my overall favorite.
The opening track “Victorious Dinogods”, shows listeners exactly what to expect, with fast and furious riffs and drums, very energetic verses with powerful vocals, a super catchy and epic chorus (complete with very cheesy lyrics), and a wonderful, very melodic guitar solo. The songs I mentioned above are all very similar to this one and are all fantastic. Two tracks later, “Jurassic Jetfighters” is slightly different, in that it’s still very upbeat and moves at a fairly quick pace, but it feels slightly more relaxed than a lot of the other tracks, not going full power outside of the incredible chorus, while the verses are slightly more subdued (at least as far as this album gets), with a focus on melodic guitars and catchy keyboards. The last speedier track that stands out is “Shadow of the Shinobi”. The band tends to throw in a couple of harder-edged, slightly thrashy tracks with a bit of a darker tone on each of their albums, and that’s exactly what this track is, with the symphonic elements dialed back a bit, while the guitars hit harder than on the rest of the album, especially during the verses and solo section, though the chorus is still super wild and catchy, as usual.
While much of the album is fast-paced and often quite frantic, there are a few more mid-paced tracks, and all of them are fantastic, serving as a nice change of pace while still keeping the momentum going. The first of these is “Katana Kingdom Rising”, which has a slight Japanese feel to its main melody, along the lines of many tracks on Space Ninjas from Hell. It has a slightly darker feel to it and is fairly heavy, while still having a very fun and catchy chorus, as well as being one of the most cinematic-sounding tracks on the album. Three tracks later, “Night of the Nuclear Ninja” is similar, though its guitar work is much lighter and more melodic, and the track has a slight classic heavy metal feel to it, but as always, it’s super catchy and epic, especially the chorus and the excellent guitar solo in the second half. Closing out the album is “Powerzord”, which strikes a middle ground between the other two slower tracks, being equal parts heavy, melodic, and super epic, with a fantastic chorus that closes out the album nicely (and I believe it even throws in a Transformers reference, for good measure!)
Some albums are simply meant to be pure fun, and that’s exactly what Dinosaur Warfare Pt. 2 is. Anyone expecting any deep or thoughtful lyrics clearly shouldn’t bother with this one, as it’s every bit as silly and cheesy as power metal is known to be, even going above and beyond and taking the cheesiness to new levels at times. On the other hand, anyone looking for a fun, high-energy power metal album, who either tolerates or enjoys this kind of epic silliness is highly recommended to give this an album listen, as it’s one of the best of its kind. Longtime Victorius fans should be very pleased, as it ranks up there with Space Ninjas from Hell as the band’s best work to date.
Ratings: 9/10
Written by: Travis Green
My Global Mind – Staff Writer
Travis Green is a Canadian based writer for My Global Mind, with a particular passion for power metal, as well as an interest metal in all its forms.
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