Release Date: February 7th, 2024
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Genre: Power Metal
Links: https://majesticametal.com/
Line Up:
Tommy Johansson | guitars, vocals
Petter Hjerpe | guitars
Chris Davidsson | bass
Joel Kollberg | drums
Tracklist:
1. Power Train
2. No Pain, No Gain
3. Battle Cry
4. Megatrue
5. My Epic Dragon
6. Thunder Power
7. A Story In The Night
8. Go Higher
9. Victorious
10. Alliance Anthem
Led by the ultra-talented Tommy Johansson, on guitars and vocals, Majestica have definitely stepped up a gear or 10 to release Power Train. Johansson digs deep into his inner Ronnie Romero / Ronnie James Dio and doubles down on his guitar playing to deliver some of his best work to date. Supported by Petter Hjerpe, guitars, Chris Davidsson, bass and Joel Kollberg, drums and I’m guessing someone on keys with an ear for some serious melodies, this has clearly been put together by someone tasked with the sole purpose of writing the perfect example of what power metal should be.
Could this be the best power metal album of 2024? If it isn’t then perhaps it should be. From the presentation, the song writing, the musicianship, the epic solos, harmonies and choruses to die for it has everything. Every single song takes the best of what the genre has given us over the last 40 years and improves upon it. From the title track to epics like Story In The Night we get the best of Helloween, Stratovarius, Dio, Hammerfall, Sabaton, Rhapsody (original), and much, much more.
What’s not to like then? Surely there’s a BUT in here somewhere? No album is that good in this day and age is it? Well, I’m going to get the BUT out of the way. There is a song on this album called Victorious. The first 3 minutes and 30 seconds of which are made in power metal heaven. Epic tunes, epic vocals, epic choruses. Heck, it even finishes on a rallying scream of “Victorious!” It is, was and should be the perfect end to the song but for some reason they have added 59 seconds of acoustic tomfoolery with the band harmonising, badly or drunkenly around an acoustic guitar to close the song out. Lads….. it doesn’t work. It sucks and it ruins the end of the song.
Aside from that oddity, the rest of the album is flawless. Absolutely flawless. The album is 51 minutes long. If the album was 50 minutes long, this would have been my album of the year, but for that 59 seconds of “aaargh… why!!?” It loses a point for that 59 seconds because (as my wife often tells me) 59 seconds can be the difference between average and great when it comes to a perfect performance.
Written by: Adrian Hextall
Ratings: 9/10
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