Power Metal
Napalm Records
Release Date – July 4th 2025
Line Up:
The Tribune – Vocals
The Crusader – Guitar
The Viking – Bass
The Spartan – Drums
Morgana Le Fay – Vocals
Tracklist:
To Lindisfarne
Armageddon
Genghis Khan (featuring Orden Ogan)
Kingdom Come
Morgana’s Incantation
Circle Of Witches
Kings Of Ragnarok
Call To Arms
Troops Of Immortality
Nightfall
Hangman’s Night (featuring Dominum)
Varangoi
Here Comes The Rain
Steel On Steel (featuring Subway To Sally)
Warkings return after three years. They’ve been on a crusade to spread the word of Power Metal around the world, and here are the stories of that crusade. They have brought back plunder, riches and new friends such as Dominum and Subway To Sally along with an old foe in Orden Ogan.
They start with a brief but sweet instrumental ‘To Lindisfarne’ with the sounds of waves against the shore and a tribal beat for the oars before the cries of war as the troops race to the shore. They crash into the title track with a massive battle cry. It’s a fist-pumping, chest-beating Power Metal banger that’s bound to get a crowd going, plus that old witch Morgana Le Fay joins in too. We head east for another anthem ‘Genghis Khan’ that rides along the plains without a saddle, hacking and slashing assisted by Orden Ogan in their quest. ‘Kingdom Come’ starts with a mighty chugging riff and a stomping beat as The Tribune offers a call to arms before they settle on The Viking’s throbbing bass line for the verse, then return to the power on the chorus.
Things get creepy with ‘Morgana’s Incantation’ before ‘Circle Of Witches’ chugs away and Morgana growls and roars her threat. Don’t anger this old witch because she will turn you into a newt! That said, there is some superb axework from The Crusader on this track. The huge melody of ‘Kings Of Ragnarok’ brings some Viking Metal for good measure. ‘Call To Arms’ is thirty seconds of “fight, kill, eye for an eye,” which happens to be the chorus for ‘Troops Of Immortality’ before the slow build of ‘Nightfall’ where Morgana rears her demonic voice again.
‘Hangmen’s Night’ is the obvious single and helped along by Dominum. This is pure Power Metal joy that rides along on a fabulous chorus. Then the battle hymn ‘Varangoi’ sets the scene for the fight to come. Things get somber with some strings and plaintive piano on ‘Here Comes The Rain’ where The Tribune shows the mellow side of his voice as he remembers the fallen. We get another battle hymn on final cut ‘Steel On Steel’ which features Subway To Sally singing in their native German tongue.
Another blistering slab of Power Metal to rank alongside Primal Fear and Helloween, who have both released albums this year. Ignore what the other publications say—this is joyous, chest-beating, fist-pumping, horn-throwing metal which is fun. People tend to forget that word: FUN. Not to be taken seriously, just to be enjoyed. Bang that head!
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 9/10
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