Power Metal
High Roller Records
Release Date – July 26th 2024
Line Up:
Andrew D’Cagna – Everything.
Jesse Scott – Guitar solos.
Quinn Lukas – Guitar solos.
Tracklist:
1 – Blood And Honor
2 – Soul Survivors
3 – Majesty Of Steel
4 – Mistress Of Desire
5 – Standing Tall
6 – Sword Of A Thousand Truths
7 – Riding The Dragons
8 – Shadow Of The Reaper
9 – Cold Flesh Falls (bonus)
10 – Exile Of The Sun (bonus)
Welcome to the fifth installment of the Ironflame legacy. If you’re a fan of power metal, especially the European style, then this is definitely for you. Everything is handled by the immensely talented Andrew D’Cagna, except for the guitar solos, which are performed by Jesse Scott and Quinn Lukas.
Gird your loins and prepare for battle as Blood And Honour rattles away with some rapid double kick drum action and a spidery guitar line. The vocals are first-class—operatic and powerful—and we get some twin harmonies before the searing lead breaks. What a great start! Another spidery riff introduces Soul Survivors before it settles into a Priest-like power metal groove, then Majesty Of Steel continues the great work.
Mistress Of Desire is where things kind of drop off—it’s a mid-paced roller, but the lyrics are poor. C’mon, Andrew, you can do much better. Standing Tall proves he has it in him; man, this goes for the jugular from the start. It’s proper fast and will get you throwing your horns. Then we get a real headbanger in Sword Of A Thousand Truths, which plods along and allows us to catch our breath.
Woah, we’re off again with Riding Dragons before another classy banger, Shadow Of The Reaper. I have two bonus cuts on my download: Cold Flesh, which weaves and grooves around and gets you fist-pumping, and a wonderful metal ballad, Exile Of The Sun.
Power metal, when done well, is superb, and this is superb—mostly. The only fault, in my view, is Mistress Of Desire, but the rest of it is top-notch. Loads of swords and sorcery are going on with everything you would expect and more musically. This is 50 minutes where you can slip out of your dreary, dull, boring life and imagine yourself as the muscle-bound hero killing dragons with your huge sword and rescuing those scantily clad damsels… I’m off to play it again.
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 7/10
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