YOU ARE HERE.

WE ARE HERE.

AND WE HAVE THE POWER.

AGAIN!

{collective transformation into an impressive jumbo robot / Machinder that shoots missiles from its tits}

Hiya heya ahoy-hoy! Welcome to another List Season here at Last Rites. Congratulations on nimbly gliding across the finish line with the grace of a swan. Or, in some cases, the grace of a loon on bath salts. Either way, you’re here, and that’s what matters. And by jove, we are the lucky ones, as we now get to bask in the unmitigated glory of power metal and all of its magnificent relations: Euro power, USPM, prog/power, power/prog, symphonic, neoclassical, epic power, heavy/power, hard rockin’ power, power power, etc., etc., ad infinitum. It’s all here, and getting a stranglehold on a top 25 was once again no easy task because, believe it or not, I actually have a life outside of listening to 500 hours of melodic pomp and circumstance. For example, just last night I sat out on the curb for about 15 minutes after taking out the trash, wondering if I could fit inside the garbage receptacle without the sanitation engineers noticing. So, yeah, my time is clearly valuable.

All joking aside, it still brings me a good deal of pleasure underscoring the merrier side of our nifty heavy metal universe like this each year because, to be perfectly honest, I often require a extra EXTRA shot of melodic encouragement in each and all of my arms by the time November rolls into my face. Perhaps you feel similarly, and hopefully you appreciate how we kick off List Season each year with We Have the Power. If not, please take the opportunity to go fly a kite in a diaper fire. WHO SAID THAT. Certainly not me! Have you seen the latest season of The Great British Bake Off yet?

THIS YEAR’S TRENDS!

Firstly, there really wasn’t a true Golden Fleece in 2025. No album so grand, seductive, creative and magical as to float goldenly above all else like a beacon of bigness in a Towers of Gold sort of way. Does that mean it was a bad year for power metal? No, not really. It just means more time was spent trying to suss out which album was a little bit gooder than the next one, which was actually the case for most all of metal in 2025. Kind of an odd year that way, I guess.

Power metal and pals also continued the trend of brevity, which is very welcome, even if there were some serious stragglers, some of which you will encounter below. Basically, I will offer a beholden tip of the hat to any band that understands succinctness and trimming the fat goes a very long way amidst a modern age that affords a great many of us umpteen bands and a seemingly infinite amount of albums to sift through each year. What can I say, the human attention span continues to shrink as we…let’s see if I can hit the garbage can with this balled up piece of paper. I’ll give myself three tries.

I guess that’s it! If you’re the type of person who appreciates the finer details, here’s the scoop: 228 bands from 31 countries (plus 6 international bands) provided 230 total releases for contention, and the biggest players once again were Germany (27 bands), Italy (23), Japan (20), Sweden (20) and the U, S and A (31).

So, without further ado, here is that list chopped down to a very stately top 25. (Plus the top 3 EPs!)

INTO GLORY!

THE TOP 3 EPS OF 2025

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3. Pythia – V Pt. 1: Unhallowed

[Cover artwork: Remi @ Headsplit Design] Pythia’s latest EP hits this year’s list as a formal ‘symphonic power’ entry, but I would say the symphonic element is modest enough here to simply designate V Pt. 1: Unhallowed as a rippin’ power release with symphonic touches (largely by virtue of having a vocalist who is moderately operatic). Yes, there are keys afoot—or, rather, a keytar, based on the video sample shared below—but they’re largely atmospheric in lieu of providing some sort of chintzy simulation of strings / brass, which is something I appreciate. The EP’s greatest strength, by a mile, is its willingness to whip with heaviness, occasionally managing to bump right up to the border of melodic death metal due to the strength of the riffing and drumming.

Style: Symphonic Power
Country: United Kingdom
Sample: “A Curse in the Blood”
Label: Independent
Release date: May 23
Bandcamp: Pythia

2. Catalyst Symphony – The Light Inside

[Cover artwork: Some random prom photographer?] Bands, I regret to inform you that we all still judge books by their cover. We judge everything by whatever image happens to represent said thing’s ‘cover’. I know it’s not fair, and it seems especially rude in this case because the cover for The Light Inside is simply a photo of singer Wiktoria Wizner (that is serious SHOWBIZ name) caught in a particularly pensive moment, but how are we supposed to see this and decide, “Holy shit, I’ve never heard of Catalyst Symphony, but THIS is something I need to bookmark right away!” That being said, if you count yourself a fan of triumphant symphonic power with plenty of outstanding leads that’s operatic without ever beating you over the head with a French horn, you will be quite pleased with every single one of these 15 minutes.

Style: Symphonic power
Country: United Kingdom
Sample: “Nova”
Label: Independent
Release date: May 2
Bandcamp: Catalyst Symphony

1. Anubis – The Puppeteers

[Cover artwork: Uncredited] If you’ve been a fan of LA’s thrashin’ power pummelers Anubis over the past 5-plus years or so, this will be your last chance to pound their patented brand of bruising power into your ears with new songs before they turn the page to “darker, heavier waters” moving forward. Will they leave the power element entirely in the dust for their next full-length? I suppose time will tell. As far as closing chapters on a high note goes, though, I’m not sure a band could do so more emphatically and victoriously than Anubis has done with The Puppeteers. All three songs here rip, blister and wallop—so much so that I find myself admittedly nervous about seeing this side of their face in the rearview. Still, I’ll be there for what’s next, and until then, this beauty on repeat.

Style: Incendiary Power
Country: USA
Sample: “The Hood Collector”
Label: Independent
Release date: May 16
Bandcamp: Anubis

THE TOP 25 FULL-LENGTHS OF 2025

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25. Exvamon – Odyssey of Fate

[Cover artwork: Pär Olofsson]

“He shoots the pool like a launching pad
If it ain’t insane then you can’t get rad
Skating is all that’s on his mind
He’s skating radical all the time!”

Visalia, CA’s Exvamon has little to do with Suicidal Tendencies, but I do think about skating pools and grinding rails whenever I throw on Odyssey of Fate, as there is a palpable youthful energy exploding from every corner of the record that, while clearly a very bright and fast form of shred / power, also manages to conjure images of pop punk and nardcore as the record flies through its 34-minute runtime. Wait, what? Do I have a screw loose? Why the warrior battling a dragon on the cover, then? Probably because it would look really cool airbrushed on the side of a classic VW bus, Lancelot. You’ll definitely want to get on board here if bands such as Immortal Guardian, Dragonforce and very early Blind Guardian regularly occupy your attention.

Style: USPM
Location: USA
Sample: “Voyage Unknown”
Label: Independent
Release date: July 11
Band website: Exvamon

24. Burning Witches – Inquisition

[Cover artwork: Gyula Havancsák]

Twenty years of activity and now six full-lengths in, it seems sort of surprising that Switzerland’s Burning Witches has never managed to crack the top 25 for We Have the Power before now. The band has always been solid, delivering a very upfront, no nonsense form of heavy power reminiscent of classic Hellion with a stronger Painkiller influence. But Inquisition finds BW reaching an extra gear of energy and aggression that helps push things to the next level. The album’s crisp production certainly helps in that regard, and it’s likely that the infusion of fresh blood in the form of shredder / ex-Iron Maidens guitarist Courtney Cox (No, ffs, not that Courtney Cox) has a lot to do with it as well.

Style: Heavy / Power
Location: Switzerland
Sample: “Inquisition”
Label: Napalm Records
Release date: August 22
Bandcamp: Burning Witches

23. Anthology – Frozen Sun

[Cover artwork: Nikos Gaitanopoulos]

Hey, I dig symphonic power metal as much as the next schlub with a flower pinned to their lapel whenever we see the words #timpani #leadbattles and #dragons tagged on an album, but it’s hardly a secret that this particular offshoot has been glutted with mediocrity to the point of explosion over the course of the last several years / decade. Where Slovakia’s Anthology sets themselves apart is by virtue of remembering that heavy metal is actually supposed to be… Well, heavy. Consequently, while a record like Frozen Sun delivers all the orchestral elements one could ever hope to hear pealing from a keyboard, it also manages to tack a sizable amount of heft to the formula that falls just short of, say, classic In Flames. Yes, that means you can expect growling here—an element that often rankles a number of folks in the power community, myself included—but Anthology fuses the two styles in a way that smooths over the awkwardness that often results in the merger. Add to that the fact that singer Lilian Anerousi’s excellent voice is equal parts tough as it is delicate, depending on which mood is required, and you’ve got a very heavy symphonic victory with Frozen Sun.

Style: Symphonic / HEAVY Power
Location: Slovakia
Sample: “Be My Savior”
Label: Independent
Release date: September 26
Bandcamp: Anthology

22. Reflection – The Battles I Have Won

[Cover artwork: Alexander Vasilopoulos]

I don’t think I could summarize all the goodness behind this record better than my bud Lonewaite did in his review of The Battles I Have Won earlier this year:

“In addition to the references above to Scorpions and Rainbow, the songs on The Battles I Have Won celebrate Warlord and Omen and Stratovarius and Rhapsody Of Fire, effectively spanning the history of epic metal, whether you call it traditional, heavy, or power. It’s truly remarkable, then, that it flows so effortlessly in and out of niches across the album and sounds all the while only like Reflection in 2025.”

Honestly, the one thing that keeps this record from landing even higher is the fact that Reflection fall into the somewhat repetitive chorus trap that’s admittedly a bit of a bugbear for yours truly. BNW / “We’re Bloodbrothers” x 100 syndrome notwithstanding, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more epic, galloping champ in 2025.

Style: Epic Power
Location: Greece
Sample: “The Battles I Have Won”
Label: Pitch Black Records
Release date: June 20
Bandcamp: Reflection

21. Reinforcer – Ice and Death

[Cover artwork: Hendrik Noack]

Germany’s Reinforcer isn’t really interested in reinventing the wheel, they just want to hit you with a classic form of power that conjures the early 2000s’ variant that was largely clad in denim & leather and gifted the world bands such as StormWarrior and Paragon. As a consequence, expect loads of melody, gang-shouted background vocals, and an almost stubborn straightforwardness that’s… actually rather refreshing. Sure, they’re far from the only band marching to the beat of this sort of drum, but what separates Reinforcer from the rest of the lot, at least for me, is the fact that their vocalist underscores a gritty approach that invokes Nevermore-era Warrel Dane in lieu of yet another open-shirted crooner with a rose in their mouth.

Denim! And Leather! Brought us all together!

Style: Pure Power
Location: Germany
Sample: “Ice and Death”
Label: Scarlet Records
Release date: August 22
Bandcamp: Reinforcer

20. Bloodbound – Field of Swords

[Cover artwork: Péter Sallai]

I guess you have little choice but to trust me when I say it takes more than one might expect for a time-tested classic Euro power band like Bloodbound to hit a list such as this. Why? Because we all knew exactly what Field of Swords would sound like before ever hitting play, and there’s admittedly something sort of exasperating about a band that’s been in the game for 20 years that consistently approaches each release with the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude. Is it really that difficult to take the offseason to learn a curveball?

As expected, Field of Swords delivers literally everything we’ve come to expect from Bloodbound: Bright, largely speedy, cheerful, uber melodic Euro power with gang choruses that drill refrains into our heads with nary a care for doing any one of those things to the point of some sort of unreasonable detonation. But… things feel a little heavier? A touch more aggressive? Extra animated? Maybe the band put some acai berries in their oatmeal before studio days. Whatever the case may be, Field of Swords does Bloodbound better than I expected it to do Bloodbound, it does so in a tidy 45 minutes, and it features Brittney Slayes of Unleash the Archers on the closing track.

Style: Euro Power
Location: Sweden
Sample: “As Empires Fall”
Label: Napalm Records
Release date: November 21
Bandcamp: Bloodbound

19. Stygian Path – The Lorekeeper

[Cover artwork: Jon Toussas]

The Lorekeeper is the album I labored over the most regarding whether or not it should be allowed entry to WHTP. Is it a full cheat? No, I think not. But it’s admittedly more ‘epic metal’ than it is true power—like the initial spark that reminds us just how important classic Manowar was / is to epic gallopers such as Solstice (UK) and Vendel, plus a healthy pinch of Steve Harris’ penchant for penning slow-rolling epics. So, a bit of a gradual grower that, in a curious sort of way, feels longer than its actual runtime. I realize that probably comes across as a snub, but it’s mostly an acknowledgement that The Lorekeeper feels… intentionally unhurried. Not quite doom, but doomy in an epic and USPM sort of fashion that builds atmosphere until a sudden galloping riff breaks the calm and eventually gets split even further by lightning leads. If that sounds like a party you’d like to crash, tighten them bootstraps.

Style: Epic Power
Location: Greece
Sample: “Prometheus”
Label: Independent
Release date: March 3
Bandcamp: Stygian Path

18. Five Rings – Five Rings

[Cover artwork: Uncredited]

Five Rings is the first of two albums inside WHTP 2025 to feature shredder Hiroyas “Iron” / “Master Dragon” Chino at the forefront. This is the more straightforward of the two, laying down 35 minutes of full stroke power that—outside of track 6, “Requiem,” and the album’s plaintive instrumental outro—never really bothers to pump the brakes or allow for outrageous extraneous ornamentation. So, if you’re looking for super riffy, nuts & bolts Japanese power with loads of shredding solos and an aim for INSANE POSITIVITY that evades frantic theatrics, Five Rings will hold any and all beers until further notice.

Style: Pure Power
Location: Japan
Sample: Medley
Label: Rubicon Music
Release date: February 19
Band website: Five Rings

17. Panthalassan – From the Shallows of the Mantle

[Cover artwork: Adam Burke]

Is the following snippet from the Panthalassan review from earlier this year enough to get you on board the hype train?

“The lead guitar work here… Holy Lord, there are a near endless supply of notably inspiring leads up and down these 60-plus minutes. And even when Wright isn’t soloing, his riffing and propensity for melodic embellishments are steeped in enough golden melody to cause your speakers to glow for hours after spinning the record. Opener “Lowstand Leviathans,” for example, jumps from the gate rather aggressively, but right around the midpoint (~4:11) it shifts into an epic measure that recalls While Heaven Wept’s absurdly majestic Vast Oceans Lachrymose.”

If not, feel free to collect your extremely valuable gift tote in the lobby and ignore the fact that it only contains a half-eaten Whatchamacallit and a crushed Modelo tall can.

Style: Progressive Power
Location: Canada
Sample: “Driftwood Reverie”
Label: Independent
Release date: March 28
Bandcamp: Panthalassan

16. Prehistoria – Cryptic Halo

[Cover artwork: Adam Burke]

Waaaaaayyyy back in 2021 I had this to say about Prehistoria’s debut EP:

“Let me tell you something, whenever Prehistoria musters enough material for a debut full-length, it’s gonna be a big deal. Thankfully, we have this absolute ass-kicker of an EP to while away the days, weeks, months, but hopefully not years before that eventually happens. The band plays a wonderfully aggressive form of slightly progressive power that falls in the neighborhood of, say, Persuader, and they’re fronted by a killer vocalist who’s equally adept at hitting pure power highs as he is at layering those same heights into something that’s really not that far off from King Diamond.”

Well, it HAS been years since the release of the Cursed Lands EP, but Cryptic Halo confirms that Prehistoria hasn’t exactly spent the ensuing years twiddling their thumbs away from their respective wares. Does the new material find the band traveling new grounds and reaching even higher heights? Nope! I would say this full-length debut pretty much does what the EP did at or very near the same level, but with a touch less of that goodly King Diamond influence. That being said, I doubt anyone with a penchant for a notably aggressive form of USPM will find ways to complain about a band that nails this sort of formula so nimbly and efficiently.

Style: Speedy USPM
Location: USA
Sample: “Rise”
Label: Stormspell Records
Release date: February 15
Bandcamp: Prehistoria

15. Iron Attack! – Melt Down the World

[Cover artwork: Uncredited]

The second Hiroyas “Iron” / “Master Dragon” Chino-fronted album for this year’s power hubbub does a notably admirable job of challenging the old adage ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. This is hardly new grounds for Iron Attack!, however, as they’ve been doing just that for every one of their 78 full-lengths across the last two decades or so.

SEVENTY EIGHT FULL-LENGTHS. SEVEN. TEE. EIGHT. FULL. LENGTH. ALBUMS.

Does Hiroyas even have enough time in his day to take a whiz in one of those incredibly futuristic Japanese toilets? I’d love to offer up some sort of comparison to older IA! material, but I need to die within the next thirty years or so and might not have enough time to assimilate the full discography, so maybe an expert can chime in below. Here’s what I do know: Melt Down the World flipping shreds, and it shreds in enough different ways woven through trad, classic power, symphonic power, hard rock and pop that I can’t help but come back for more tastes. A song like “Starlit Merry-Go-Round” (you read that right) sounds like the intro to whatever show is depicted on that album cover, and it’s immediately followed by the very intentionally all-capped “BURN IN HELL” that thrashes with the force of 1000 Holts (the Gary variety.) In other words, if you don’t like what you’re hearing at any point on the record, just give it a few minutes.

Style: Pure Power
Location: Japan
Sample: Medley
Label: Independent
Release date: August 17
Band website: Iron Attack!

14. Helloween – Giants and Monsters

[Cover artwork: Eliran Kantor]

Did anyone other than the members of Helloween think Helloween would gallop into 2025 with an album nearly as magnificent as 2021’s triumphant Helloween? Maybe their spouses? The guy who comes to every halloween party dressed as a pumpkin to close-talk about his OG copy of Walls of Jericho? We knew it was nigh impossible. Oh, we knew…

Look, Giants & Monsters is a good Helloween record with plenty of extremely enjoyable moments that could ostensibly make you occasionally wonder if it’ll ever come close to flirting with the elite… six? (Walls, Keeper 1 & 2, Dark Ride, Gambling and the S/T), especially in view of songs such as “Universe,” “Hand of God” and yet another epic closer. But the record also sports “A Little Is A Little Too Much” (still catchy!) and “Under the Moonlight” (patent cat retching sound) that drag the listener back to reality. One hill I will absolutely die on (magnificently), though: “This is Tokyo” is not nearly as bad as some of you seem to think.

Filed under: Solid Helloween is still Hellofuckenween.

Style: Helloweeny
Location: Germany
Sample: “This is Tokyo”
Label: Soyuz Music
Release date: August 27
Band website: Helloween

13. Labÿrinth – In the Vanishing Echoes of Goodbye

[Cover artwork: Uncredited]

In the Vanishing Echoes of Goodbye is a progressive power record tailor-made for those who might wonder what a Frontiers Records version of Symphony X might sound like. That is to say, they’ve got that ‘shirt unbuttoned to my naval’ AOR aesthetic that drifts in and out of the spotlight down pat, particularly during the album’s many lighter moments. Plus, the production is of course polished seventeen ways to Sunday, which is really kinda necessary for a style such as this. It’s all almost too much, though, if you’re the sort who’s habitually sensitive to such things. But just when you think things might be a little too soft, Labÿrinth offsets the syrupy side of life with loads of genuinely aggressive riffin’ and hittin’ that makes it seem feasible that a live Labÿrinth show might have an actual pit? Is that allowed? A pit crammed to capacity with proggers sporting crisp New Balance sneakers.

Anyway, if you’re an unwavering Labÿrinter, or a devotee of progressive, heavy-hitting AOR in general, In the Vanishing Echoes of Goodbye will surely score sweet points in 2025.

Style: Unbuttoned Shirt Progressive Power
Location: Italy
Sample: “Welcome Twilight”
Label: Frontiers Records
Release date: January 24
Band website: Labÿrinth

12. Avantasia – Here Be Dragons

[Cover artwork: Rodney Matthews]

Where were you when Tobias Sammet ran / rode / drove / flew to virtually every Avantasia stans’ house to slap them in the face with what amounts to a very enjoyable hard rockin’ power record in 2025? Were you… Were you at the opera, hoping to absorb still more operatic moments in preparation for yet another impossibly theatrical Avantasia metal opera? Well, too bad, George Gershloss: Tobias and Tobias alone is at the helm of this steam-powered blimp, and he decided to strip down the material for Here Be Dragons to the bone, which essentially equates to only eight guest vocalists instead of [literally all power vocalists currently alive]. Does the record hit the target dead center at every turn? Well, I’m personally not all that wild about the leftover Meat Loaf of “Bring On the Night” and the closing “Everybody’s Here to the End,” but I do think Here Be Dragons does things right way more than it does the reverse, and the band definitely sounds re-energized.

Style: Whatever the Hell Tobias Sammet Wants to Call It
Location: Germany
Sample: “The Witch”
Label: Napalm Records
Release date: February 26
Band website: Avantasia

11. Queen Of Dreams – Subnivium

[Cover artwork: Gaia Cafiso]

Step into the game with a song called “Shield Anvil” and a band name that’s feasibly an homage to High House Life Ascendent T’riss—both klaxon calls to anyone equally into Steven Erikson’s excellent Malazan series—and you will have my undivided attention. Granted, I wouldn’t necessarily expect a progressive power band to take up that particular mantle (why is that?), but when the goods are this good, and the band flies in right out of left field, I’m by gum gonna shout about it from some sort of pulpit. COME FORTH AND BE BLESSED, BRETHREN AND SISTREN OF THE SEVEN CITIES AND BEYOND! See? I’m shouting!

Queen of Dreams does a LOT right with Subnivium, but what I appreciate the most is how they manage the progressive power metal tag with an equal emphasis on both key ingredients. Consequently, while not at all without its fair share of ostentation (love the keyboard leads in particular, and the bass is, um, actually very present), Subnivium never feels overly showy, and we’re never too far away from a riff or passage that reminds us of the ultimate goal, which is to gallop triumphantly.

Style: The Warren of Progressive Power
Location: USA
Sample: “Shield Anvil”
Label: Independent
Release date: January 31
Bandcamp: Queen Of Dreams

10. Steel Arctus – Dreamruler

[Cover artwork: Manos Lagouvardos]

Generally speaking, when people reference the classic run of Manowar, they’re often pointing most emphatically at the hallowed opening quartet of Battle, Glory, Hail and Sign. I totally get that, but my first foray under the Manowar banner came at the behest of Fighting the World and Kings of Metal, two albums I still place at or very close to the same level as what landed prior. This, in a tidy nutshell, is the realm in which Greece’s Steel Arctus operates, with an added injection of the more modern variety of heavy power that one-time Manowar great Ross Friedman continues to operate under with his Ross the Boss designation. Basically, expect no frills, belting heavy power, vaulted further by a vocalist (Tasos Lazaris of Fortress Under Siege and Livin’ Evil) who wails like Eric Adams after the hammer from Sign of the Hammer falls on his foot. Also worthy of mentioning, some folks have raised an eyebrow at the inclusion of some rather odd keyboards as a pitfall here, which I sorrrrt of agree with (especially in “Glory of the Hero”), but they’re also kind of… fun? Is this fun? Is that fun? Is fun allowed?

Style: Epic Power (With A Strange Keyboard Peeking In At Times)
Location: Greece
Sample: “Cry for Revenge”
Label: No Remorse Records
Release date: November 28
Band website: Steel Arctus

9. Ambush – Evil In All Directions

[Cover artwork: Péter Sallai]

Full disclosure: Ambush does not consider themselves a power metal band, just as I’m fairly certain is the case for the most staunch and stunning power metal gatekeepers out there. Is this just good ol’ heavy metal, then? Speed metal? Power metal adjacent by way of Painkiller? Hey, as long as no one takes a leak in the pool, everyone’s welcome to dive in.

Regardless of incredibly specific boundaries, an album like Evil In All Dimensions flashes just enough old-school pm in the style of the greats—yer Helloweenies, yer Gamma Raymonds, etc.—to qualify for a list such as this. And if you’ve been in the Ambush camp for years, I’d go so far as to say it’s the best thing this collective has done since the initial volley that produced 2014’s very excellent Firestorm. Agreed, it covers precisely zero new ground, but it’s catchy as all hell, bright as the sun, and just fun, fun, fun ’til some baddy took the T-Bird away.

Style: Secretly Power
Location: Sweden
Sample: “Evil In All Dimensions”
Label: Napalm Records
Release date: September 5
Band website: Ambush

8. Insania – The Great Apocalypse

[Cover artwork: Niklas Dahlin]

With a band like Insania and an album like The Great Apocalypse, you are required to gird your loins for two inevitabilities: 1) A grand level of joyousness that seems contrary to the record’s title (though they do admit it’s a GREAT apocalypse), and 2) Being savagely pelted with that joy for over an hour.

Okay, the joy isn’t quite to Freedom Call levels here, but it is absolutely palpable, so we’ll just thank Insania for once again adding some sorely needed positivity to our planet’s atmosphere. The runtime, however, is something that should probably be addressed. (Again.) Point being: Shave a good 15 to 20 minutes off this baby and we might actually have The KICK-ASS Apocalypse. Hell, just trim some of the repetitive choruses down a little and we’re probably there? That being said, what a terrifically catchy, polished and sophisticated record this is, and you’d have to search far and wide to find a better album to obsess over if you’re the sort of hero who’s interested in hearing and / or learning just how power metal leads are supposed to be done (and done a lot.)

Style: Pure Power
Location: Sweden
Sample: “No One’s Hero”
Label: Frontiers Records
Release date: June 13
Band website: Insania

7. Helms Deep – Chasing the Dragon

 [Cover artwork: Bob Eggleton]

A number of people I know flipped their lids over the Helms Deep debut Treacherous Ways back in 2023, but that record didn’t really manage to stick to my ribs the same way as it did for them. That might have something to do with the fact that I’m a bit of a jaded peckerhead, but it could also be due to the sneaky truth that I was hoping the band would incorporate some level of progression to freshen up the stock USPM formula—something I think full-length number two accomplishes in a rather sly way that never loses sight of HD’s unique form of notably swift USPM. No, this is absolutely nothing like ‘prog metal’ in a Dream Theater or DGM sort of way, but Chasing the Dragon definitely expands on the techniques (and influences) laid down by the debut, thereby rendering a more diverse and intricate journey that sounds a bit bigger. Or, at the least, wider. Sure, the album is too long and could use a shave, but there’s really nothing here I’d call an outright stinker, which is an achievement when the main goal is speedy USPM and there’s an hour’s worth to gobble down. Do I even need to mention that Helms Deep features guitarist John Gallagher of Raven?

Style: USPM
Location: USA
Sample: “Craze of the Vampire”
Label: Nameless Grave Records
Release date: June 20
Bandcamp: Helms Deep

6. Feanor – Hellhammer

[Cover artwork: Andreas Marschall]

Hellhammer is an album I figured had a very good chance of winning the power race in 2025, thanks to the fact that it happens to be crammed to the rafters with all the spirit and charm that made the classic runs from bands such as Running Wild, Blind Guardian, Grave Digger and Iron Savior so rewarding. YES, it is often that fun and great.

What ultimately knocks the record down several notches, however, is Feanor’s continued insistence on stuffing so much excess into the bag that the listener can’t help but be overwhelmed. Does… Does Feanor watch all 4 seasons of Felicity in one sitting? My brothers in Christ, we all have chores to do, ffs.

And speaking of Jesus, if someone could please explain why a song so blatantly dedicated to Running Wild is called “Heavy Metal Jesus,” I would definitely appreciate it. Or maybe that’s best left as one of life’s great mysteries? Under Jolly Jesus?

ANYwho, if you consider yourself a fan of the classic form of Euro power that bubbled up directly alongside speed metal, and you also love glassy leads and catchy choruses that damn-near clink with the sounds of colliding steins, you will find oh so much (and definitely a little too much) to love about Hellhammer.

P.S. Dump the ballads.

Style: Unedited Pure Power
Location: Argentina
Sample: “Sirens of Death”
Label: No Remorse Records
Release date: September 19
Band website: Feanor

5. Arcane Sanctuary – The Traveler’s Diary

[Cover Artwork: Federico Bossinga]

One of my favorite things about putting the work into We Have the Power every year is how all the excavating and dissecting always manages to unearth a handful of projects whose vision and its ultimate outcome seems to far exceed that which is normally reserved for unsigned bands with a notably sparse catalog. I’m guessing that sounds a little insulting, which obviously isn’t my intention—no individuals bold enough to release music to the public do so with a goal of hitting anything less than the winning shot at the last second, but some projects just manage to, I dunno, hammer the ball on their very first swing.

Does that mean there’s no room for improvement on a record like The Traveler’s Diary? No, of course not. But considering the complexity at the heart of the music here—a notably progressive form of symphonic power—one can’t help but wonder how much effort went into getting this thing to see the light of day. Very pro production, very compelling songwriting, wonderful flow, excellent leads, rational and unpretentious orchestration, not too sappy, and every player comes to the plate with their A-game. Consider my attention fully grabbed moving forward.

Style: Symphonic Progressive Power
Location: Argentina
Sample: “He’s Waiting”
Label: Independent
Release date: August 1
Bandcamp: Arcane Sanctuary

4. Livin’ Evil – The Warriors of the King

[Cover artwork: Uncredited]

It’s been a bit of a strange journey for me and The Warriors of the King. I heard an early sample from the record many months ago and knew pretty much right off the bat that I needed to earmark it for future exploration, but then the first thing I noticed upon finally landing on the Livin’ Evil bandcamp page was a new band logo that looked weirdly related to ours. To be COMPLETELY CLEAR, I absolutely do not believe the resemblance was / is intentional, but it quickly brought to mind an escapade years ago where I had to chase down some doink in Germany who absolutely DID swipe our logo line-for-line for his crappy goth / metal label. In short—and still no fault of Livin’ Evil—I walked into The Warriors of the King on the wrong foot. A wobbly foot. An unsure foot. As is often said, though: Nothing solves a problem quite as swiftly as a victory. And friends, The Warriors of the King is clearly something I’d refer to as an unexpected, notably firm victory.

Anyway, there I sat, doing the lightest bit of research to find out who was responsible for the new Livin’ Evil logo, when I found myself suddenly overwhelmed by the fact that, 1) The music was doing a very handy job of kicking the livin’ crap out of my ears, and 2) I didn’t actually give the slightest shit about the logo’s origin.

I just love how relentless this record is in virtually every facet of its attack: the drumming, the riffing, the soloing, and the way Tasos Lazaris (same vocalist for Steel Arctus) absolutely WAILS as if he were ripped directly from the pages of USPM’s golden age. Basically, it’s ‘all killer, no filler’, and I’m equally pleased to report that the album maintains a wonderfully raw feel that makes it seem very likely that Livin’ Evil shreds just as hard from the stage as they do on record.

Bottom line: Livin’ Evil could opt for the Chuck E Cheese logo and it wouldn’t detract from the asskickery laid down by The Warriors of the King. 44 minutes of double-dyed heavy / power glory!

Style: Heavy / Power
Location: France
Sample: “All Roads Lead to Hell”
Label: Independent
Release date: May 13
Bandcamp: Livin’ Evil

3. Sacred – Fire to Ice

[Cover artwork: Anton Atanasov]

All three of the top seeded power albums this year spent some time in the number one spot throughout 2025, and Fire to Ice could be the most surprising contender of the lot. Not surprising because anything related to the album feels as if it drops out of left field in a “what the ever-living hell is going on here” sort of way, but actually the express opposite that results in a patently straightforward charmer.

There’s no intro here, no interludes, no spoken word to advance an absurd storyline, no sounds of battle / waves / wind, zero keyboards, no tin whistles / fiddles / lutes, and nary a trace of orchestration to be found. Just a notably direct ABABCB form of heavy power that pretty much nails all the marks for catchiness across all nine songs. To be perfectly honest, there were times I thought Fire to Ice might actually be a little too uncomplicated, but the hooks all over this rascal WILL NOT be denied, and anyone who might be further tempted at the prospect of an even more power-friendly Riot V (especially those vocals!) should absolutely sprint to the front of the line.

Style: Pure Power
Location: Sweden
Sample: “Caught In a Snowstorm”
Label: Stormspell Records
Release date: January 10
Bandcamp: Sacred

2. Aedan Sky – The Universal Realm

[Cover artwork: Felipe Machado Franco]

Full disclosure: I did not walk into The Universal Realm with the greatest confidence, because crowning the album cover up there are the words ‘Space Opera’, which, for me, are words that too often pave the way to something I’d literally rather leave in space. Like, way the hell out there in the Gamma Quadrant. TAKE THAT, BAJOR.

Thing is, there’s really not much I’d consider truly operatic about Aedan Sky or The Universal Realm, other than the fact that the album happens to lay down a narrative that could ostensibly be turned into an opera, and I suppose that opera could then be performed in outer space. Here on Earth, however, this record sounds a hell of a lot more like one of the finest tributes to the absolutely classic Kai Hansen-fronted era of Helloween these ears have heard since… Well, probably early-ish Gamma Ray. So, yeah, it’s speedy (speed metal speedy!), it’s more aggressively melodic than a Guitar Center under attack by 30 Michael Weikath clones, and most importantly, it sounds as if Aedan Sky used the phone booth from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure to pluck a 20-something version of Hansen right out of the ‘80s to handle the vocal duties. Or, at the least, to coach the vocal duties under his notably scholarly eye.

Now, to be clear, the singing on the record doesn’t always sound like Kai, because Aedan Sky is the end result of three singers—Sebastian Chabot (Galderia, KingCrown), Bob Saliba (Galderia, KingCrown) and Thomas Schmitt (Galderia)—and those singers don’t always want to sound exactly like Kai Hansen, but that is absolutely the essence and energy they are intending to deliver. And hooooo baby, does The Universal Realm ever deliver 36 minutes of exceedingly bright and SOARING glory that will leave you determined to… uh… RIDE! THE! SKY!

Style: Pure Power
Location: France
Sample: “Beyond the Vortex of Time”
Label: Rockshots Records
Release date: September 12
Band website: Aedan Sky

1. Majestica – Power Train

[Cover artwork: Jan Yrlund]

If a band’s album gets released in the first couple months of any given year and still manages to net the top spot once things finally hit the goal line, that band did something incredibly right and righteous. Of course, many of us pretty much expect that from chief Majestica architect Tommy ‘ReinXeed’ Johansson, no? If we agreed to overlook the cup of coffee the dude had with Sabaton and Memories of Old and focused only on what was done under his ReinXeed moniker and with Golden Resurrection, plus the stacks and stacks of bulletproof power covers of everything from Helloween to Heart to Abba to Duran Duran on his youtube channel, you’d perhaps have to worry about your mental health if you count yourself a fan of pure power and DON’T consider Johansson an absolute live wire of the genre. Tack the stellar 2019 Majestica debut Above the the Sky AND the band’s wonderful Christmas album (wait, did I just say “wonderful Christmas album?” What the hell have I been smoking) to the docket and you’ve got one hell of a stack of top shelf material worthy of undivided attention. What I’m trying to get at is this: Johansson definitely makes a case for gluing the term ‘virtuoso’ to his CV, but I do think one at least needs an appreciation of power metal to fully recognize his proficiency as a great musician. (Someone other than me please test this theory at, like, a PTA or City Council meeting or something.)

Oh, wow! Good thing we’re all gathered here under the standard of power metal! Within these expansive edges we explore all facets of the off-shoot, be it speed, symphonic, Euro, USPM, neoclassical, progressive, hard rockin’, folk, etc., all of which Tommy and Majestica seem willing to explore and slam dunk to some level with a record like Power Train. Sure, it’s absolutely 100% Euro power at its crux, and its trajectory rarely deviates from delivering the goods at or very close to 100mph, but you can tell this is the product of an individual who considers all forms of music fair game.

“The album is called Power Train, and it has a choo-choo on the cover.”

Yeah, I know the Polar Express vibes are strong, and you will absolutely be expected to endure some of the most designedly goofy (with an emphasis on “oof”) lyrics this side of an In Flames album. You’re a power metal fan, though, yes? No new ground there, maties. So, if you have to withstand lyrics like “With their hammer so high / One crimson knight / Will be coming for you / You scream of fright / ‘Cause they’re megatrue” in order to enjoy one of the best Glory to the Brave upgrades you’ve heard in nearly 30 years, so be it.

Furthermore, accepting any and all forms of cheddar into your heart will become second nature once these songs start sinking their teeth into your giblets. (Yes, these songs do have teeth!) And luckily, that course of action won’t take very long, as these songs are all immediately infectious and largely to the point without concern for outside embroidery. Inside all that fairly straightforward melodious frippery, however, absolutely everything is done to a level of immaculateness that is 100% fucking extraordinary. Every solo, every hit on the kit, every riff, and every note flying from Johansson’s craw is flawless without somehow managing to feel too polished or at all phony / overly produced. It is, without question, a direct hit dead center for the glory of Euro power metal, and it vaults Tommy ReinXeed and Majestica far enough ahead of the pack in 2025 that I have no choice but to assume that any of its time spent outside of the number one position was simply the result of me not wanting to believe an album with a choo-choo on the cover could be this good.

Style: UNADULTERATED POWAH
Location: Sweden
Sample: “Battle Cry”
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release date: February 7
Band website: Majestica

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2025’s Full List of 230 Contenders (Bandcamp links provided where applicable):

1st0 – 2nd Chapter
Adamantis – Reforged
Aedan Sky – The Universal Realm
Aeroscreamer – Countess of the Night
Æternia – Into the Golden Halls
Airborn – Lizard Secrets: Part Three – Utopia
Alestorm – The Thunderfist Chronicles
Alexandrite – Burning EP
Alltheniko – Balls of Steel
Ambush – Evil In All Dimensions
Ancient Bards – Artifex
Angel Fury – Majic Eyes EP
Anthology – Frozen Sun
Anubis – The Puppeteers EP
Arcane Sanctuary – The Traveler’s Diary
Arcane Tales – Ancestral War
Arion – The Light That Burns the Sky
Art Nation – The Ascendance
Ashes of Ares – New Messiahs
Avantasia – Here Be Dragons
Azeroth – Trails of Destiny
Ballsqueezer – Now or Never
Battle Beast – Steelbound
Beriedir – Liminal Spaces
Black & Damned – Resurrection
Black Majesty – Oceans of Black
Black Soul Horde – Symphony of Chaos
Blackslash – Heroes, Saints & Fools
Bloodbound – Field of Swords
Boguslaw Balcerak’s Crylord – Lost Bloody Heroes
Brainstorm – Plague of Rats
Bravelord – The Power from the End of the World
Braveride – The Great Awakening
Bridear – Reborn 2013-2016 EP
Burning Sun – The Shadows of Darkfang Keep EP
Burning Sun – Retribution
Burning Witches – Inquisition
Catalyst Symphony – The Light Inside EP
Celestial Wizard – Regenesis
Claymorean – Eternal Curse
Cova Rasa – Another Time
Crimson Shadows – Whispers of War
Cristiano Filippini’s Flames of Heaven – Symphony of the Universe
Crow’s Flight – The Dark Horizon
Crowne – Wonderland
Crystal Gates – East of the Sun EP
Crystal Skull – Arcane Tales
Crystal Tears – Athanato
Dan Baune’s Lost Sanctuary – Harbinger of Chaos
Dang – Eightfold Path EP
Dark Horizon – 9 Ways to Salvation
Dark Tribe – Forgotten Reveries
Darker Half – Book of Fate
Darklon – Mind Reaper
Dead End Irony – Battles and Brotherhood
Deep Sun – Storyteller
Divine Desolation – The Pale Mask
Dragon Skull – Chaos Fire Vengeance
Dragonknight – Legions
Dragonsclaw – Moving Target
Dust – VII
Dynazty – Game of Faces
Ebonheart – Face Our Fear
EchoSoul – Time of the Dragon
Edgeland – Tunnels
Elettra Storm – Evertale
Elvenking – Reader of the Runes – Luna
Enbound – Set It Free
Enchanted Steel – Might and Magic
Eonia Rise – Eden Is Alive
Epica – Aspiral
Eternal Idol – Behind a Vision
Eternal Thirst – The Nesting of Chaos
Ever After – Fallen Archangel EP
Everlore – Hope and Turmoil
Exvamon – Stars of Fortune EP
Exvamon – Odyssey of Fate
Fabula Rasa – Tome II: The Beyond
Fairyland – The Story Remains
Fathomless Skywalker – Anthems for the Resilient
Feanor – Hellhammer
Five Rings – Five Rings
Frozen Land – Icemelter
GaiaBeta – Gate of GaiaBeta
Gargant – Dead Night Defiance
Ginevra – Beyond Tomorrow
Glasya – Fear
Glyph – Invictus EP
Grave Digger – Bone Collector
Hagane – Top of the Tower
Hall of Gods – A Tribute to the Gods of Music
Hammer King – Make Metal Royal Again
Hangfire – Burn
Hans & Valter – The Legend of the Oakensource
Hartlight – The Triumph of Metal
Heavylution – The Cycle
Helloween – Giants & Monsters
Helltern – Concerto of the Damned EP
Helms Deep – Chasing the Dragon
Helstar – The Devil’s Masquerade
Hevisaurus – Maailmankiertueela
High Council – Cruel and Unusual
Hollowstone – The Fractures that Hide in Legends
Hounds – Rise of the Immortals
Human Fortress – Stronghold
Hyperstrike – High Risk
Ice On Fire – Nine Shades of Evil
Insania – The Great Apocalypse
Iron Attack! – Melt Down the World
Iron Brigade – Ill Fated Voyage
Isiliel – Moonbow Rebellion
Jester Ghost – Tales of the Ancient Gold EP
Judicator – Concord
Katagory V – Awaken a New Age of Chaos
Labÿrinth – In the Vanishing Echoes of Goodbye
Lady Beast – The Inner Alchemist
Legado de una Tragedia – Lovecraft
Leverage – Gravity
Limuria – Lost World
Liv Moon – The Land of Spirits
Livin’ Evil – The Warriors of the King
Living Tales – Hades
Lycanthro – Remnants of Rapture
Maestrick – Espresso della vita: Lunare
Majestica – Power Train
Maki Oyama – I Am
Manigance – L’âme de fond
Mantric Momentum – Alienized
Martyr – Dark Believer
Master Spy – Maze Runner
Master Sword – Toying with Time
Memories of Old – Never Stop Believing
Mentalist – Earthbreaker
Mercury Tide – Walls of Confusion
Meteora – In This Silence EP
Miriah – Sometimes the Dragon Wins EP
Mob Rules – Rise of the Ruler
Moonlight Haze – Beyond
Nightsteel – Nightsteel
Nils Patrik Johansson – War and Peace
Ninth Circle – Anthem of the Immortal
Niviane – Queen of Phantoms
Númenor – Runes of Power
On My Command – Conquer
Orbital Strike – Fuel to Fire
Orpharion – The Broken Seal
Outworld – The Age of Dark
Panthalassan – From the Shallows of the Mantle
Parhelyon – From Dark to Light
PowerCross – Renaissance
Predator – Unsafe Place
Prehistoria – Cryptic Halo
Primal Fear – Domination
Pythia – V Pt. 1: Unhallowed EP
Queen of Dreams – Subnivium
Raging Fate – Mutiny
Randomfuturetone – Shuriken Killer
Ready To Be Hated – The Game of Us
Reflection – The Battles I Have Won
Reinforcer – Ice and Death
Relligary – Hearts and Minds
Revengin – Dark Dogma Embrace
Rigorious – Kingdom Unfold
Ringlorn – Tales of War and Magic
Risen Atlantis – Power to the Past
Risen Crow – Requiem for a Damned Love
Rising Steel – Legion of the Grave
Ruiza – Alive EP
Sabaton – Legends
Sacred – Fire to Ice
Sacred Scroll – Between Death and Dreams EP
Sacred Steel – Ritual Supremacy
Sadistic Beauty – Blessing
Sally – Burn It
Sapere Aude – Sants E Demonis EP
Scardust – Souls
Scarecröw – II EP
Schönberg – Resurrection Σ
Scorcher – The Regal Eye
Sculforge – Cosmic Crusade Chronicles… Stories from… Errr… Nevermind!
Serpentyne – Tales from the Dark
Shadow Host – Chaos Unleashed
Shadowkiller – Sworn to Avenge
Sheglapes – Mother
Shiver of Frontier – Power of Great Spirits
Signum Regis – The Eyes of Power
Sirens – In Goat We Trust
Sirius – Phoenix EP
Skull Revenge – State of Oblivion
Skullmaiden – Dreamwalker EP
Snow White Blood – A Spark of Truth EP
Soulspell – Spirits of Ghosts
Stargazery – Carnival Puppeteers
Steel Arctus – Dreamruler
Steel Revenge – Skullcrusher EP
Steeldriver – Fire Stone Rising Part 1
Stygian Path – The Lorekeeper
Tales of Destiny – Ashes of Destiny
Tales of Time – The Journey EP
Terra Atlantica – Oceans
Tezza F. – Echoes from the Winter Silence
The 7th Guild – Triumviro
The Ferrymen – Iron Will
The Storyteller – The Final Stand
The Third Grade – Quadrivium: Resonances EP
The Uncrowned – Run Through the Night
Thomas Carlsen’s Transmission – Clockwork Sky
Thundertale – Pranašystė
Tierramystica – Trinity
Titan Killer – Slow Self-Destruction
Trick Or Treat – Ghosted
True Strength – Ancient of Days
Tumenggung – Back On the Streets
Twins Crew – Chapter IV
Under Ruins – Age of the Void
Valhalore – Beyond the Stars
Vellselk – 絶唱 EP
Vicious Rumors – The Devil’s Asylum
Vigilhunter – Vigilhunter
Viral – The Merchant
Visionatica – Harrowing Insight
Vrain – 銀翼 ～白銀のファンタジア～ EP
WarKings – Armageddon
Warmen – Band of Brothers
Warrant – The Speed of Metal
WarWolf – The Final Battle
Weapons of God – Tribulation
Wild Storm – The Crimson Dawn
Wildfire – Rise
Worlds Beyond – Rhapsody of Life

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The post We Have The Power – The Top 25 Power And Power-Related Albums Of 2025 appeared first on Last Rites.

Back in January (for our most-anticipated-albums article), I wrote that “[p]erhaps my favorite thing… about Cradle of Filth is that they just keep doing the damn thing.” This might seem like backhanded praise, but I don’t mean it that way. Think of it like this: in a lot of ways, Cradle of Filth can’t win. Black metal snobs sneer. Power metal fans scoff. Trad metal ‘heads fold their arms. Goths take a sit-down bath. From every subgenre whose boundaries they straddle, Cradle of Filth seems to evoke passionate disdain. But from my vantage, this means that in all the ways that matter, Cradle of Filth can’t lose. They play sophisticated Teflon metal exclusively.

Hello and welcome, and my goodness haven’t we beaten around the bush. The order of the day is to tell you that The Screaming of the Valkyries, the 14th album from Cradle of Filth, is just downright wonderful. Since 2021’s Existence is Futile, Cradle’s ranks have had a bit of reshuffling, with the addition of new second guitarist Donny Burbage and new keyboardist/vocalist Zoe Federoff. But despite these personnel changes, Screaming of the Valkyries is almost wholly in line with Cradle’s recent stylistic direction. This means that the album is punchy, flamboyant, and dripping with swagger, still sitting in a burnished middle ground where black metal, traditional metal thunder, and modern extreme metal meet.

But perhaps more so than ANY other Cradle of Filth album to date, this one is absolutely stacked – from root cellar to rafters – with guitar pyrotechnics. Like, not to put too fine a point on it, but we’re talking fucking incredible guitarwork all across this bad bitch. Tightly coiled, thrashy blackened riffing, plaintively beautiful leads, clean, spiralling solos, and tandem guitar licks explode everywhere from new axe Burbage and relative veteran Ashok (now on his fourth album with the band, and continuing to bring the heat that he injected into the band with Hammer of the Witches). Better yet, all those flashes and runs are deployed smartly in service of a batch of nine intricate yet memorable songs. The album opens with the fist-pumping, crowd-pleasing churn of “To Live Deliciously,” for example. Later on, “Malignant Perfection” opens with a bit of “Her Ghost in the Fog”-like setting but soon takes knottier turns and lands on a delightfully catchy chorus. And there’s an awesome section of guitar interplay that kicks off halfway through “The Trinity of Shadows,” starting off as a restrained single arpeggio lead before being joined by a harmony line, and then eventually spilling out into fierce soloing.

I’ve been reading Daniel Levitin’s This is Your Brain on Music (2006) recently, and in it he reports that “John Lennon said that the essence of rock and roll songwriting for him was to ‘Just say what it is, simple English, make it rhyme, and put a backbeat on it’” (p. 66). I suppose I can’t really claim that Dani Filth’s lyrics are “simple” English, but otherwise? Imagine all the Cradle / writing rock and rollllll. What if we’ve been looking at this all wrong for 30 years, and instead of black glam symphonic goth whatever metal, this is just goddamn rock and roll? And really, what else could it be, this music that is so committed to spectacle and volume, to a kind of deadly serious tongue-in-cheek silliness?

New keyboard play Zoe Federoff adds a particularly rich layer with her voice on the impossibly catchy “White Hellebore,” reintroducing some of the old-time gothic flair with a more symphonic tone. She also elevates one of the album’s true standout tunes, “Non Omnis Moriar.” It’s an achingly gorgeous ballad based on a line from the Roman poet Horace’s Odes. In the translation Dani Filth uses, non omnis moriar means “Not all of me shall die.” Horace’s original poem, funnily enough, is a dick-swinging bit about how great his poetry is and how it will live forever. In Cradle of Filth’s rendering, it becomes part of a poignant message about the endurance of love after death (which you can read as vampirically or naturalistically as you are so inclined). The lyrics here also eventually more or less turn into the famous Irish ballad (ahem) “Dani Boy” (“Plant a tree deep upon my silent grave / Think of me in spring’s embrace, when sadness lingers”). Musically, it’s pretty much perfect. If you listen especially closely with headphones, the pre-chorus and chorus – which are already rapturous enough – are peppered with a beautifully understated but intricate duet of guitar and keyboards playing in unison. (The emotional impact of this duet is heightened by the knowledge that Zoe Federoff and Ashok are a recently married couple.)

I can’t pretend not to know that many people (no-fun humbugs, all) find Dani Filth’s vocals to be the main stumbling block to enjoying Cradle of Filth. I have never felt that way myself, but I do think that on these last several albums, he has found greater power in embracing different registers and techniques. Much of this is natural adjustment to the way our voices change as we age, but in practical terms this means there is far less of the extremely shrill rapid-fire vocals of Cradle’s early days. And for those of us who’ve been with this band a long time, it’s a joy to hear him find new rhythms and cadences, often slowing his pace down and playfully pushing lines across bars, stretching things out or tumbling through to fit the music. It’s certainly not improvisational, but there’s an added feeling of thoughtfulness to his delivery in many places.

But if you still can’t hang with the voice, have I mentioned these zip-zapping guitars? The back half of “You Are My Nautilus” has a particularly fiery section of guitar solos from both players, and elsewhere “Ex Sanguine Draculae” comes in with a heavy, stomping doom pace. The latter song quickly morphs, however, into the most Cruelty and the Beast-ish tune of the album (especially in Marthus’s drums, which truly rival prime Nick Barker on the track). The album closer “When Misery Was a Stranger” features a set of deeply emotive guitar solos around the three-minute mark, which help to underscore the haunting, elegiac content of the song, which is hard to read as anything other than a reflection on the seemingly boundless shittiness of the state of the world right now: “The present is fraught / With all-besieging danger.” And further: “This golden age of wonder / Is undone before the thunder / Of another tyrant smitten with his gains.”

Probably you don’t need your heavy metal to be either strict escapism or moralistic hectoring, and this is neither. But if old-ass dead Horace can still wave his personal phorum around, and countless Neros can be seen at every turn fiddling while every would-be Rome burns, maybe we all need the harlequins, the jesters, the fools, wrapping the hardest truths in the slyest smiles.

The post Cradle Of Filth – The Screaming Of The Valkyries Review appeared first on Last Rites.

“Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”

We Have the Power is a unique pain. One of life’s good pains, fortunately—like soreness from some good exercise. It looms every year around August, and in the early stages I always look forward to mining the furthest depths in hopes of discovering the unexpected gems, the ridiculous surprises, and the flat-out horrors. Throw it all our way: the good, the bad and the ugly, because all of it is proof of life and evolution. Sure, in a lot of ways it’s a predictable quest, because many enduring bands are rather conservative in their ways (sigh), but there are always interesting side-adventures and unpredictable twists and turns, which is what keeps me coming back every year.

There are some… difficulties involved with We Have The Power, of course, most of which grapples with the sheer amount of music that needs to be assimilated. But even that isn’t the worst hardship to endure.

Figuring out where to draw hard lines with regard to genre bending, on the other hand… NOT ALWAYS EASY, because we (the royal we, and hopefully many of you) appreciate the bands that know how to hazard new frontiers. In the end, as long as it finds some way(s) to appeal to the fans at large—the dignified denizens that populate, say, ProgPower Fest, for example—then it will be considered for WHTP. In other words, expect to once again see everything from the symphonic, neoclassical, progressive, epic and hard rockin’ realms, and obviously sizable doses of pure Euro and classic USPM as well. A big, happy, energetic, optimistic, potent and, um, nerdy family that’s primed and ready to ignite our lives with advantageous adventurism. Sounds great, no? As predicted, life and times circa 2024 could really use an extra dose of hopefulness, and you will find that in most all of the albums listed below.

Before we get down to the nitty gritty, though, there’s one other unique difficulty that quickly needs to be addressed: Despite its strength and overall glory, you will not see Glyph’s mighty debut Honor Power Glory below. It was a great album that I proudly supported throughout the band’s indiegogo campaign, but the fallout with lead vocalist R.A. Voltaire (not looking to get into the particulars here) has tarnished things enough that I haven’t actually been able to listen to the album since the specifics of his sacking were fully brought to light. The band handled the unfortunate situation swiftly and strictly, and I applaud them for it, but catch me on the next release when someone new puts a voice to Glyph’s majestic form of power. Until then, I love the other guys in the band, and I can’t wait to hear what’s next.

THIS YEAR’S TRENDS!

First and foremost, one of the year’s more curious courses—something that rings true for all of metal this year, in my opinion—involved being exposed to a lot of ‘good not great’. Not to say what’s listed below falls short of great, but this is the first year in quite some time where my top three weren’t already pretty much decided before plowing into the rest of the 250+ albums. So, it was more of a scrum in 2024, and the battle for the last five spots was particularly brutal and came down to the finest details. If your choruses were too repetitive? OUT. Lyrics too embarrassing? SCRAM. Drummer plays like he drank too much gravy from the spigot at lunch? SAYONARA, CHUM. You get the picture.

BUMMER THING IN 2024: Power metal artists relying more on AI.

Of all the colorful branches of heavy metal, power might actually be embracing the influence of AI the most. And before we move forward, let’s just understand that calling all of this [waves arms at album covers] “artificial intelligence” is actually a stretch, as more often than not it’s just a case of a sophisticated hodgepodger / collager that relies entirely on swiping existing art without the artists’ permission. That’s a big ol’ can of worms to face, though, and this really isn’t the time or place to start digging at it. It’s just something I’d rather not see grow more prevalent than it already is, because it comes across as lazy and cheap, which I’m guessing most of the artists would rather not have attached to their hard work. That said, I also understand that not everyone has the means to find or pay actual artists, and no one wants to rely on the neighbor’s kid to draw a dragon eating a paladin for their album cover. Wait… that actually sounds amazing.

GOOD THING IN 2024: Fewer power metal releases with umpteen guest vocal spots.

GREAT THING IN 2024: Bands touring more in support of their releases.

HELL YEAH THING IN 2024: Bands releasing fewer albums that clock in at over an hour long.

Man, aren’t good things the greatest? Let’s keep focusing on the good. And if I could underscore one more positive trend in power metal for 2024, I would be remiss if I didn’t throw the TOTAL CHAMPION REIGNING SUPREME award to USPM / ‘power metal with strong trad metal influences’, because they showed up big this year. That’s not to say the other branches didn’t produce excellence, but the bands leaning more on the trad side of things were strongest across the board, and that’s definitely reflected in the list below.

Right! 34 countries across the globe provided 280 combatants for the ring, and the following list represents the upper crust of the total thrust. So, LET US GET TO THE POWERFUL POWERING.

And welcome to Last Rites list season!

THE TOP 3 EPS OF 2024

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3. Kronoceptor – Exordium

[Cover artwork: Designlara Artwork] It’s not often you stumble on a power metal band via a primary member’s involvement in another project that happens to play a technical form of death metal, but here we are. Inhuman Remnants and their Solipsis EP from 2018 was the recommendation, and it eventually lead me to the symphonic majesty of Kronoceptor by way of sharing a member by the name of Tommy Gough. My Solipsis experience was all well and good, but the discovery of Exordium very literally blew my head through the ceiling shortly after hitting play. A 17-minute ‘single’ packed to the gills with a tantalizing science fiction theme, loads of symphonic grandeur, drama out the ying-yang (without beating you over the head with smarminess), and a vocalist who kinda sounds like the lost cousin of our fallen brother Tim Aymar from Pharaoh? Buddy, I am in. I’m so in my head’s still spinning now six months later.

Style: Symphonic Power
Country: Australia
Sample: “Exordium”
Label: Independent
Release date: April 26
Bandcamp: Kronoceptor

2. Kiuas – Samooja: Pyhiinvaellus

[Cover artwork: Uncredited / likely AI] I’ll tell you what, it’s been a minute since a Kiuas release has swirled around my power sphere and refused to let go. Honestly, probably since the band’s 2005 debut full-length, the extraordinarily excellent The Spirit of Ukko. I wouldn’t go so far as to say what the band produced following that record was flat-out weak, but it did feel somehow less… fantastical. Less welcoming, and with a stronger emphasis placed on jumping right into your face. Maybe I just missed the ‘storytelling’ aspect of the band? Well, Samooja: Pyhiinvaellus certainly rights that ship again, as the now reunited (after closing up shop back in 2013) Kiuas deliver their first concept album (EP) with all the original members back in the game. The result: A notably immersive return to the old ways that will absolutely appeal to anyone else who’s been in a similar boat as me for the last two decades. In fact, Samooja: Pyhiinvaellus is such a rewarding slice of 18 minutes that I’m not even going to complain about the use of AI art for the cover… much.

Style: Back to the Business of Pure Power
Country: Finland
Sample: “From the Anchorage”
Label: Independent
Release date: March 1
Band website: Kiuas

1. Lovebites – Lovebites II

[Cover artwork: Uncredited / likely NOT AI] At some point Lovebites just has to stumble, no? Not today, though, my friends. Not today. Today, we are here to discuss how Lovebites II delivers yet another 25 minutes of peerless incendiary power that’s just relentless with its ability to blow heads right off our dang-ol’ shoulders. I understand why this band so often gets compared to compatriots Galneryus—both play the Euro style of power with an emphasis on a savant level of skill from every player—but Lovebites is less concerned about underscoring that neoclassical symphonic edge and more interested in just… yeah, throttling the listener with speed, heaviness and an unmatched level of explosive power, all of which is delivered in spades here. If you can find some way to attach a complaint to Lovebites II, you’re probably one of those people who irons their jeans.

Style: Incendiary Power
Country: Japan
Sample: “Soul Defender”
Label: Victor
Release date: August 28
Band website: Lovebites

THE TOP 25 FULL-LENGTHS OF 2024

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25. Cathubodua – Interbellum

[Cover artwork: Jelle Von Loo]

9.999 times out of 10, when faced with the prospect of a new symphonic power album that features a corseted woman behind the mic, one can expect the album to be: 1) As dramatic as the telenovela interpretation of the recent Janes Addiction reunion tour, and 2) Longer than a Pixar movie. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, mind you, as symphonic metal’s intention very often underscores precisely those elements to great and exaggerated effect. But it’s refreshing when you come across something in this particular sphere that’s essentially the antithesis of that, which is precisely the case with Cathubodua and their sophomore effort Interbellum. To be clear, it’s not like Cathubodua is… undramatic, they just dial it down a bit, and vocalist Sara Vanderheyden balances her choral delivery with a very satisfying slice of heavy metal grit, which marches seamlessly alongside the epic and, at times, surprisingly aggressive storm laid down by the rest of the band. The result is a moderately more extreme-sounding symphonic power album that—say whaaaaaaa?—delivers the full narrative in the time it normally takes to listen to a Cro-Mags album. A deep and delectable win!

Style: Symphonic
Location: Belgium
Sample: “Amidst God”
Label: Massacre Records
Release date: February 23
Band website: Cathubodua

24. IronFlame – Kingdom Torn Asunder

[Cover artwork: Mike Hoffman]

USPM stalwarts IronFlame are nothing if not consistent, so while there certainly won’t be any awards thrown their direction for innovation throughout Kingdom Torn Asunder, you can always expect to find more than a few things from each full-length to bedazzle that dusty ol’ boiled leather tunic you pull out for special metal shows.

Full-length number five is a straightforward affair—no keyboard battles, fantasy samples or extravagant intros / interludes—but the likelihood that Crom hates bells & whistles is fairly high, so bonus points are awarded to anyone who appreciates an album that just gets right down to business and never really relents. Brass tacks: If a mid-paced collision between Manowar and Dawnbringer sounds like a great idea to you, and you dig guitar solo dueling as much as you do the sound of steel high-fiving steel, Kingdom Torn Asunder will definitely win your heart in 2024.

Style: Pure USPM
Location: USA
Sample: “Shadow of the Reaper”
Label: High Roller Records
Release date: July 26
Bandcamp: IronFlame

23. Nemedian Chronicles – The Savage Sword

[Cover artwork: Mario López]

Each and every year we get at least one or two challengers that step to the table with a sound that parallels Blind Guardian enough that you’d have to be a deaf guardian to not hear the similarities (swisssshhhh). Not the worst offense, as Blind Guardian obviously smokes, but it’s become predictable enough that we may want to start handing out a yearly Blind Guardian Achievement Award. Well, this year’s winner of the BGAA is France’s Nemedian Chronicles, a band that clearly owes a lot to their Vettern aus Deutschland, but they also (thankfully) manage to mix in a fair bit of other influences—splashes of Gamma Ray, touches of Grave Digger, et al.—to help distance The Savage Sword a bit. I would definitely say the record gains momentum as it gallops along, with notable highs hitting with the one-two punch of the title track and “Black Lotus – the Curse of Thog,” and it also makes excellent use of an abundance of mood and tempo shifts, both song-to-song and inside the album’s longer tracks. Plus, you know, we of the power metal community are fairly easy marks for virtually anything Robert E. Howard-related, so Nemedian Chronicles and The Savage Sword clearly have that going for them as well. Basically, if you if you don’t mind bands that hide their influences about as well as Igor hides his hump, you will find loads to love with this very worthy debut.

Style: Guardian Power
Location: France
Sample: “The Savage Sword”
Label: No Remorse Records
Release date: February 23
Band website: Nemedian Chronicles

22. Hyloxalus – Make Me the Heart of the Black Hole

[Cover artwork: Kory Torgerson]

What, um… What have we here? Is this another one of those albums that’ll end up condemning me to wear the ol’ “BIG FAT CHEATER” sandwich board for allowing its entry into the arena? Hyloxalus (named for a poisonous frog, which is amazing) tag their style as “symphonic power,” but Make Me the Heart of the Black Hole is an extremely different beast compared to your typical Kamelots, Nightwishes and Epicas. The album is indeed symphonic, with keys adding a touch of the requisite grandiosity to the corners, but it’s a tag that’s mostly warranted due to vocalist Nina Laderoute’s operatic approach. Again, not much can be considered ‘typical’ about Hyloxalus and their methods, but Landeroute sounds damn-near alien front to back on this record. Not quite Fifth Element / Diva Plavalaguna kind of alien, but more along the lines of… WE ARE BORG, thanks to the sinister tone that perpetually drifts in the backdrop. And the music that accompanies her is equally unique, traversing power, thrash and prog realms with turns on a dime. I realize this sort of out of left field, but I can’t help but equate my overall reaction to Make Me the Heart of the Black Hole to the first few times I listened to fellow Canadians DBC and their terrifically unique Universe album back in 1989: “I don’t really know how to categorize what I’m hearing, but I love what I’m hearing, and I look forward to returning to what I’m hearing for the foreseeable future.”

Style: Errrr, uhhhhh
Location: Canada
Sample: “Undead in Ward 6”
Label: Independent
Release date: January 26
Bandcamp: Hyloxalus

21. Vision Divine – Blood and Angels’ Tears

[Cover artwork: Augusto Silva]

I suppose if you’re blessed enough to be granted an afterlife as an angel with access to swords, you’re probably not going look like James Corden after mowing through five rows of Chips Ahoy, no? Seriously, when was the last time you saw this many chiseled pecs on a power metal album cover? Okay, probably like ten minutes, thanks to power metal’s fondness for making us feel as if we’re about to step into a romance novel. And that’s reinforced further by the fact that Vision Divine hails from Italy. Easy, now: It’s a compliment coming from a country where the average citizen opts for a wheat bun for a foot-long sandwich because of its “health benefits.”

Point being, the cover and title of Vision Divine’s 9th full-length kiiiiind of makes me fear where these angels tread, because I can’t tell if this is supposed to be a romance story or if said angels are pissed off about the fact that I also own Deicide albums. In a weird way, though, the cover is somewhat fitting for what Vision Divine delivers here: Kinda churchy, notably glorious, and with just enough brawn to separate limbs from torso. The band does bring the heaviness, and they certainly know how to tack a potent form of aggressiveness to the blueprint, even if they sound like they do so with the first three buttons of their shirts undone. The leads—guitar and keyboard—on this record are (once again) nothing short of inspiring, and vocalist Ivan Giannini is so fricken good at being a vocalist that my own vocal chords have decided to protest because they’re mostly used to ask Siri where the closest burrito shop happens to be. Bummerville: Giannini has apparently very suddenly and sadly announced that his is leaving the band, so weep the blood and tears of all the angels whilst letting Blood and Angels’ Tears wash over you time and time again.

Style: Unbuttoned Shirt Power
Location: Italy
Sample: “Preys”
Label: Scarlet Records
Release date: September 20
Bandcamp: Vision Divine

20. Savage Oath – Divine Battle

[Cover artwork: Adam Burke]

Full transparency: I walked away from initial spins of Divine Battle a touch disappointed. Yes, I realize it’s strange to start a blurb for an album that’s managed to hit a best of list with a negative point, but that jot of disappointment is rooted in the fact that the band’s previous 2023 demo handily whooped my ass, and Divine Battle didn’t quite have the same effect right from the gate. One of the principal obstructions to this ‘full ass whooping’ is a consequence of having the one and only Dan Swanö master the demo and not the full-length, which results in the latter feeling a little less vigorous with the riffs. That being said, it’s not like Divine Battle sounds as if it fell out of someone’s ass: There’s a clear and walloping bass presence up and down these seven hymns, the leads light up the sky like a nighttime comet, and Brendan Radigan’s voice sounds, of course, as top-shelf as one could ever hope to hear in our genre today. There’s just a pinch less punch behind those riffs, and that takes away from the overall Savage Oath potential—a potential that, honest to goodness, doesn’t even have a visible ceiling from where I’m currently standing. (Full transparency part deux: I am lying down.)

In summation, Divine Battle is one of the year’s best albums, but based on the strength of the demo, I expected it to walk away with this year’s crown. NEXT TIME, if the band lets me live long enough to hear full-length number two.

Style: USPM
Location: USA
Sample: “Night of the Knight”
Label: Postmortem Apocalypse
Release date: March 15
Bandcamp: Savage Oath

19. Orden Ogan – The Order of Fear

[Cover artwork: Dan Goldsworthy]

At this point in their career, Orden Ogan always manages to straddle a pretty thin line between making a list like this and… well, waiting until next time to take another very practical shot. They endure as one of the more consistent pure Euro power metal bands currently kicking about, but personally, I prefer the material that underscores a little more darkness and classic heavy metal heaviness, which is precisely what’s on tap with their ninth full-length, The Order of Fear. There’s still plenty of unduly honeyed catchiness and bright melody to satisfy the sweetest of teeth, but it feels like there’s a little more chew to The Order of Fear—a juiciness that leaves a little blood in the mouth, I guess you might say. The result sounds like a peculiar midpoint between a band like, um, Orden Ogan and the more modern face of Amon Amarth. Is The Order of Fear destined to top your tippy-top favorites of 2024 if you’re not the ultimate O.O. toady? I’m guessing not. Will the songs hook you enough to look forward to returning whenever the Ogan mood strikes your heartiest of hearts? Yoooouuuu bet.

Style: Pure Power
Location: Germany
Sample: “The Order of Fear”
Label: Reigning Phoenix Music
Release date: July 5
Band website: Orden Ogan

18. Greyhawk – Thunderheart

[Cover artwork: Angela “GrimmuzA” Grymuza]

One of the things I truly appreciate about a record like Thunderheart is how it manages to exist inside this unique sphere where theatrical USPM realizes that not all hair metal sucked. I equally enjoy how the band’s method of cramming seemingly disparate things together ends up reminding me of the days when my friend and I used to mix up the parts of a few vehicle models and then build some highly glued Mad Maxed Thunderfuck Truck that we’d then take out into the woods to blow up. For their part, Greyhawk’s Thunderfuck Truck is a really fun mish-mosh of Omen, classic Falconer and… I dunno… Girls Girls Girls, and this time I definitely do not want to blow up the results.

Sadly, this is the last time Greyhawk will sound just like this. Well, probably, because vocalist Rev Taylor has decided to hang up his power helm in favor of literal opera pursuits, and his voice is a huge part of Thunderheart’s success. No need to panic, though, as Greyhawk is thundering forward with a new vocalist, and there’s really no reason to not expect great things to come because this collective understands how to write catchy, energizing power that’s as melodic as the summer days are long.

Style: Theatrical Party Power
Location: USA
Sample: “Rock & Roll City”
Label: Fighter Records
Release date: April 2
Bandcamp: Greyhawk

17. Concerto Moon – Back Beyond Time

[Cover artwork: Yutaka Kawase]

I don’t mean to be needlessly rude, but there’s an avenue out there for some sort of thesis that explores the inverse relationship between bad artwork and kick-ass music that forever seems to flourish inside the realm of Japanese power metal. “ALL WHO JUDGE BOOKS BY THEIR COVER, DO NOT ENTRY” is a phrase that comes to mind, and as you can tell by the full caps, it’s shouted with great enthusiasm. Crux of the point: The artwork for Back Beyond Time kinda blows, but at least it’s not AI? I hope? Thankfully, the music exploding behind that golden blowout more than makes up for the assault on the eyes, due in a large part to sole original member Norifumi Shima’s everlasting devotion to producing a form of power that begs the question, “What if Yngwie had just admitted that he listened to Ritchie Blackmore instead of Paganini 24/7?” Bonus points to Concerto Moon for continuing to emphasize THE SCOOT in those riffs, something they’ve pretty much managed to do across the board for all sixteen (!!!) of their full-lengths. P.S. Holy crap, a Japanese power metal album that’s on bandcamp!

Style: Neoclassical Power
Location: Japan
Sample: “Story of My Life”
Label: Walküre Records
Release date: May 1
Bandcamp: Concerto Moon

16. Achelous – Tower of High Sorcery

[Cover artwork: Silvana Massa]

Achelous’s brand of power metal is a bit of genre bender, but that only serves to strengthen the band’s uniqueness when stacked against the rest of this year’s contenders. The power part of the equation is notably epic with symphonic touches, but there are numerous instances where Tower of High Sorcery showcases a very doomy inclination, which immediately conjures comparisons to, say, the latest (and very fine) return from Russia’s Scald, or certainly the epic doom strut from a band like Malta’s totally under-appreciated Forsaken, and also the equally underrated Memory Garden. Anyway, the marriage between epic doom and power isn’t exactly new, but Achelous’s decision to mix in a strong nod to the latter era of Iron Maiden, particularly Dance of Death, gives Tower of High Sorcery a pretty unique footprint. But yes, you need to be down with deceleration, which might be a sticking point for some. Those willing to jump in will be rewarded by endless hooks, though, and I particularly love how well Achelous manages the storytelling aspect that’s so often prevalent in this style of power. Additionally, guest vocalist Anastasia Megalokonomou sounds flipping amazing.

Style: Doomy Power
Location: Greece
Sample: “Dragon Wings”
Label: No Remorse Records
Release date: March 22
Bandcamp: Achelous

15. Unleash the Archers – Phantoma

[Cover artwork: Dusty Peterson]

{Presses ‘send’ on brand new video and goes to bed}

{Wakes up to the sound of villagers burning down the house}

Where were you the day Unleash the Archers decided to wreck the internet by releasing the video for “Green & Glass?”

In case you remain unaware (is that possible if you’re reading this list?), the vid in question used “AI models trained on the licensed artwork of Bo Bradshaw” in an effort to illustrate and expand on the album’s themes that explore artificial intelligence and a sentient AI protagonist sorting out the shabby messes left behind by we somewhat sentient humans. An interesting idea that… didn’t really work, as the models that were intended to only borrow / collage Bradshaw’s work didn’t really end up doing so. WHAT’S UP, EVERY SCIENCE FICTION HORROR STORY EVER. Suffice to say, tempers exploded, and after the dust finally settled and most of us finally gave Phantoma a proper listen or twenty, we suddenly realized,“Hey, this is a pretty goldarn good album!” YES, ALL OF US. YOU OUT THERE, AND ME IN HERE.

Phantoma is quite a good record because it’s largely Unleash the Archers being Unleash the Archers. It’s not as pop experimental as Abyss, and it’s not quite as epic and explosive as Apex (granted, not much really is), but it’s a bright, aggressive when it needs to be aggressive, and Brittney Slayes continues to prove she’s one of the best vocalists out there in metal today. I happen to think the album starts to drift a bit in the second half, but even an 8/10 UtA record is something that’s undoubtedly worthy of celebration.

Style: Pure Power with Very Natural Intelligence
Location: Canada
Sample: “Green & Glass”
Label: Napalm Records
Release date: May 10
Bandcamp: Unleash the Archers

14. Seven Spires – A Fortress Called Home

[Cover artwork: Tuomas Välimaa]

I assume there are at least a handful of readers out there who are wondering how in the blue bonk an album like A Fortress Called Home even makes it to a list like this. I get it: Would Seven Spires circa 2024 even be in the power conversation if they’d never released the very excellent Emerald Seas back in 2020? PPPFFFffffffudge if I know. Point of fact: At this point you’re more likely to get a high-five for introducing a Dimmu Borgir fan to A Fortress Called Home than, say, a Kamelot fan. Is that possible? It seems possible. Basically, the Seven Spires sound continues to push boundaries further and further into more extreme kingdoms, but there’s still enough of a relation here to believe the band sprouted from a progressive symphonic power seed before everyone fell victim to some force that turned their blood black.

Confession: Seven Spires sort of lost me with 2021’s Gods of Debauchery, so I tempered my expectations rolling into full-length number four. Somewhere around the 5-minute mark of “Love’s Souvenir,” however, I found myself completely swept up in the full and tremendous drama of this album’s dark and twisting narrative. Yes, I think the record could use a touch of editing when an early number like “Impossible Tower” slugs along for 6 minutes, but there always manages to be something dressing up the corners that keeps me pinned to the action, and I will always appreciate the fact that every Seven Spires player gets time in the spotlight, INCLUDING the bass player, which seems rare for this style of metal.

Yes indeedy, vocalist Adrienne Cowan continues to dramatically take center stage (odd little side note: I would be less enthusiastic if the clean and harsh vocals were split between different members), but it’s truly the full Seven Spires collective that’s responsible for making A Fortress Called Home one of the more remarkable extreme progressive symphonic records of 2024 that—and I will indeed die on this hill—continues to find unique ways to connect with the power community.

Style: Enthrone Power Triumphant
Location: USA
Sample: “Architect of Creation”
Label: Frontiers Records
Release date: June 21
Band website: Seven Spires

13. InnerWish – Ash of Eternal Flame

[Cover artwork: Giannis Nakos]

InnerWish? Allow me to tell you about my inner wish. Mad Men’s Joan Harris and I are sharing an ice cream cone when our clothes sudd… Wait, am I… typing out loud again?

Hey! I’m not sure you guys are aware of this, but by and large Greece really knows how to do heavy metal. There are a number of reasons for this wondrous truth, but one of the key factors is certainly rooted in the fact that Greek bands so very often remember to »respect the roots«, no matter which branch of metal is being pursued. Consequently, there’s generally not a lot of fucking around with extravagant decoration, and you can always expect: 1) RIFFS, and 2) Some form of sweet, sweet melody. Kind of a given with power metal, no? One would certainly hope so. Melody? Generally never an issue. But I don’t know how many times I’ve walked away from a modern power metal record wondering WHERE THE LIVING HELL ARE THE RIFFS. InnerWish understands this problem, so they generally pack their albums with two or ten times the recommended dosage of riffs, and then they pile more riffs on top of that just for good measure. That’s Ash of Eternal Flame in a tidy and beautiful nutshell.

In truth, this record would’ve landed even higher on this list, but the band would do themselves a serious favor by remembering that less is often more—no one really needs a power metal record to reach over the hour mark in 2024. Weird to complain about too much goodness, yes? Yet here I am… again.

Style: Pure Power
Location: Greece
Sample: “Sea of Lies”, featuring Hansi Kürsch!
Label: Reining Phoenix Music
Release date: November 8
Band website: InnerWish

12. Lords of Black – Mechanics of Perdacity

[Cover artwork: Felipe Machado Franco]

If you’re here reading this list, you’re probably aware of Frontiers Records and their penchant for chucking darts at their roster list in hopes of conjuring a new band that will catch the ears of the power / prog / hard rock elite. This rarely produces anything most of us would consider offensive, but it does seem to result in a number of one-and-done projects and stacks of AOR upstarts that sound pretty dated. Not the worst transgression, obviously, but it takes something pretty special to truly stand out amongst the herd. Oh, hello, Lords of Black. What perfect timing for your grand entrance!

You know these guys, right? Spearheaded by principal songwriter / guitarist Tony Hernando and Frontiers Records permanent elite status member Ronnie Romero? In general, Lords of Black is in the business of consistency, and that consistency mostly involves the band producing good power metal that typically fits within the Frontiers Records time-tested canon. This album, though—this album feels a little more special. Sure, Romero’s track record (which includes time spent in Rainbow) is impressive enough that he could probably submit 40 minutes of nothing but him yelling at the TV during The Great British Baking Show and Frontiers would release it, but he and Hernando definitely decided to dig extra deep to produce something that just flat-out kicks ass. There’s just so much ground covered here: Power, prog / power (the 11-minute “A World That’s Departed” is fantastic), hard rock and some radio-friendly material that—holy fricken moly—somehow doesn’t sound AOR, like the wonderfully catchy “Obsession of the Mind” and “Can We Be Heroes Again,” the latter of which almost sounds like something the Screaming Trees would release. Bottom line: Mechanics of Perdacity just smokes, and this might be the best thing Romero and Hernando have attached their name on to date.

Style: Pure Power
Location: Spain
Sample: “Can We Be Heroes Again”
Label: Frontiers Records
Release date: March 15
Band website: Lords of Black

11. Sonata Arctica – Clear Cold Beyond

[Cover artwork: Niko Anttila / Eskatomega Art]

“Sonata Arctica is back!”

How many times have you read a sentence similar to that and wondered, “W… Were Sonata Arctica ever gone?”

Maybe it just feels like the band occasionally warps out of our universe because of all the knuckleballs Tony Kakko seems to love throwing, but they have, in fact, always been around (since the beginning of time!), with the four years between Clear Cold Beyond and Talviyö being the longest stretch between full-lengths.

Okay, true, “back” is probably intended to insinuate that the band is “back to their old and generally preferred antics,” which equates to a style of punchy power that essentially put Finland on the power metal map. For the most part, Kakko’s experimentation over the years has been met with… mixed results, so hearing a record like Clear Cold Beyond that keeps the eccentricities to a minimum (not gone, though) does feel strangely fresh, and having sat with the record for the better part of the last nine months, I think most of us would be comfortable stating the following: If you love the classic era of Sonata Arctica, you will find oh so much to love about Clear Cold Beyond.

Maybe you were hoping the album would land higher? Well, it might have if the momentum set out from the jump carried all the way through the second half, but I do think the album’s highest moments—which, admittedly, are pretty bloody high—hit with the opening foray of “First in Line,” “California” (catchiest power metal song of the year?) “Shah Mat” (WONDERFULLY moody and engrossing), “Dark Empath” and “Cure for Everything” (that riff around 1:30!) Still, the fact that the boys can still step up to the plate and deliver a record this energetic, bright and gratifying feels magnificent. So… yeah, welcome back?

Style: Sonata Arctica Is Back Power!
Location: Finland
Sample: “California”
Label: Atomic Fire Records
Release date: March 8
Band website: Sonata Arctica

10. Galneryus – The Stars Will Light the Way

[Cover artwork: Who the hell knows]

Are… Are we really planning on complaining about “Galneryus on cruise control?” Are we? I mean, clearly we are, as that’s precisely the theme that continues to ratchet up whenever a new album drops from Syu & crew lately. But does it really make a lick of sense to grumble about incendiary power like this that—oh my word, okay, yes—invariably sounds extremely “Galneryus?” Do you also complain about receiving consistently good head? Do you secretly wish your next pizza would taste more like how a burning diaper smells? Does it really chap your rear when your favorite show doesn’t throw in a season where two characters endlessly tussle with the ‘will-they-won’t-they’ trope? WELL THEN TAKE A BREAK FROM GOODNESS, SOLDIER. Walk away from consistent and virtuous glory and realize that head and great pizza continue to occur while you’re out there watching reruns of Friends alone on your crappy couch. Then, once you realize how silly you’re being, thou shalt return to persistent magnificence with a newfound appreciation.

The Stars Will Light the Way is yet another very fine Galneryus album—BIG, FLASHY, LAVISH and HEROIC to the tenth power—and I very much appreciate its subtle variations, like the hard-rockin’ kick of “Lost in the Darkness,” or the weirdly enjoyable ballad “Crying for You,” which throws in just enough Dokken to save the day. Furthermore, it’s been a good long while since Galneryus has ended a record on a three-song high as lofty as “Voice in Sadness” (wow), “I Believe” (double wow) and “Life Will Go On.”

Keep pounding Galneryus into my veins, please.

Style: Galneryus On Beautiful Cruise Control
Location: Japan
Sample: “The Reason We Fight”
Label: Warner Music Japan
Release date: September 25
Band website: Galneryus

9. Fellowship – The Skies Above Eternity

[Cover artwork: Péter Sallai]

I find it mildly amusing that the small amount of feedback I’ve seen so far regarding album number deuce from this UK crew mostly deals with the impression that The Skies Above Eternity is a darker affair compared to the band’s extraordinarily well-received debut. Yyyyyyeeeaaaaaahhh, I suppose it is a bit darker, but it’s also darker in a similar way that the film Labyrinth is darker than, say, The Neverending Story: A smidge darker in overall tone, but there’s still puppets flopping about.

What is certain: Fellowship has managed to avoid the sophomore slump, as everything you enjoyed about The Saberlight Chronicles can be found in spades swirling and dashing about inside The Skies Above Eternity. Depending on how you look at it, though, that could also be the record’s biggest flaw. In other words, Fellowship isn’t being very adventurous with album number two. But hey, if your debut lands with the impact of an anvil to the top of Wile E. Coyote’s dome, why fix what ain’t broke, right? Consequently, the record still manages to hit a lot of very high highs: The vocals are still great (and still very ‘Broadway lights’), the leads are still impossibly precise and fiery, and full uplifting glory continues to be executed with a surgeon’s precision. Plus, The Skies Above Eternity does the deed in a very tidy 42 minutes, and it does so without dragging a soppy ballad draped in chiffon into the narrative.

Bottom line: The Skies Above Eternity is a top-shelf follow-up to the über splashy Saberlight Chronicles, but I’m guessing I’m not the only one hoping album number three finds interesting ways to broaden the adventure.

Style: Theatrically Caped Power
Location: United Kingdom
Sample: “Hold Up Your Hearts”
Label: Scarlet Records
Release date: November 22
Bandcamp: Fellowship

8. Triton Project – Messenger’s Quest

[Cover artwork: Disturbing Grace Design (probably AI)]

I haven’t seen many (if any) people attach the ‘power’ tag to Triton Project’s very impressive debut, and I understand why: This is as proggy as a progressive metal album could ever hope to prog without Frank Zappa floating through on a cloud with a 32-stringed guitar strapped to his back. But a definable power appeal still exists here, both in the way Messenger’s Quest draws comparisons to a band like Symphony X and in the way the album transports the listener to fantasy realms stacked with witches, demons and queens. So, definitely stronger on the progressive end of the spectrum, but with the added bonus of something akin to the early Fates Warning narrative to broaden the allure.

Do you get itchy when halfwits like me describe albums as “ambitious?” Well, when a debut record offers up two songs clocking in at over 20-minutes and another reaching well past 10-minutes, “ambitious” is a rather obvious descriptor. I would worry more about that if the chief architect behind Triton Project wasn’t a piano player, though. Wait… why? Because of a classical music connection? Symphonic structure? Sure, let’s go with that. Of course, I have no idea if this project’s mastermind, Tanpaway “Title” Suttipong, sits around wondering how to work Chopin into heavy metal, but Messenger’s Quest definitely delivers that sort of vision where a winding, crescendoing, kaleidoscopic sense of adventure is underscored. And Title’s choice to farm out the guitar / vocal roles to a proven progressive player like Sean Thompson (Odd Logic) certainly bolsters the boldness of this elaborate voyage.

Innovation Award
Style: Progressive As Balls
Location: Thailand
Sample: “The Key”
Label: Independent
Release date: February 23
Bandcamp: Triton Project

7. DGM – Endless

 [Cover artwork: Travis Smith]

Italy’s DGM has a habit of straddling the lines when it comes to We Have the Power. That straddling has a bit to do with the fact that their releases occasionally fall just outside the top 10% of the year’s total accumulation, but more often it’s because what they produce ends up being too proggy to sneak through the door. In truth, the power element has increased as the band continues to endure the years (without a single original member), but album number twelve actually reverses the trend back in the prog direction, making its appearance here even more puzzling. Well, as I’m sure you’re now aware: I don’t really care. I mean, I do care, but there’s just too much good going on inside Endless to let DGM pass, and there’s still just enough of a Symphony X / Pagan’s Mind-styled prog / power touch that you CANNOT BURN ME AT THE STAKE for allowing its inclusion.

If you’re at all familiar with DGM, you know to expect a strong Dream Theater influence, both in song structure and especially in the way singer Mark Basile manages to conjure images of James LaBrie. What’s new in 2024, however, is the band’s decision to incorporate piles and piles of progressive music from across several genres and multiple eras, and that really adds to Endless’s depth and durability. It still sounds like DGM, but fragments of Kansas, Styx, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Jethro Tull, Threshold and even Opeth color the corners, and you can definitely tell the band had a grand ol’ time figuring out how best to incorporate new gear such as flutes, violins and hammond organ.

“WAIT, OPETH,” roared the excited masses

Hey, if I’m lyin’ I’m fryin’—check out “The Wake,” and prepare to high-five me for the full duration of its stately 7.5 minutes.

Style: Progressive
Location: Italy
Sample: “Solitude”
Label: Frontiers Records
Release date: October 18
Band website: DGM

6. Sunburst – Manifesto

[Cover artwork: HALO Creative Design Lab]

We Have the Power didn’t exist back in 2016, but an earlier interpretation of it did, and it included Sunburst’s killer debut inside the top 10 that year. That was largely based on the merits of guitarist Gus Drax, who first snared my attention because of his stellar work on Paradox’s excellent Pangea, also landing in 2016. Here’s a snippet of what I had to say about Fragments of Creation back then: “Occasional tenderness and orange juice brand name aside, Sunburst’s Fragments of Creation admirably balances punch & pleasantness into an impressive debut that should ping on any fan of the genre’s radar.”

Well, here we are 8 years later and the biggest change in the Sunburst camp appears to be… A new bassist. Well, that and the fact that the band has managed to take that successful design from 2016 and pushed it to beautiful new heights. So, yes, everything a person could have loved about Fragments is still present and accounted for on Manifesto, but it’s all expanded and splendidly refined. The hooks hit deeper, the moods are more diverse, the intricacies are more… intricate, and Dax has clearly NOT spent the four years between releases using his guitar as a coat rack (my Lord, the leads on this record).

Bottom line: Manifesto admirably balances punch & pleasantness into an impressive sophomore release that should ping on any fan of the genre’s radar, but this time TO ELEVEN.

Style: Progressive Power
Location: Greece
Sample: “Samaritan”
Label: Inner Wound Recordings
Release date: June 14
Bandcamp: Sunburst

5. HammerFall – Avenge the Fallen

[Cover Artwork: Samwise Didier]

I’ll tell you what, it sure is strange hearing death metal and industrial elements folded into the HammerFall blueprint in 2024. Once that settles, however, Avenge the Fallen really starts to hit its stride.

I AM SORRY, I HAVE LIED. Yes, lucky number thirteen from this ageless Gothenburg quintet sounds exactly as you might imagine: LIKE FRICKEN HAMMERfALL. But Avenge the Fallen finds its way to this year’s list because it manages to do HammerFall better than HammerFall has managed to do HammerFall for about, ohhhh, 24 years. Best thing since Renegade? You bet. And some might even argue it’s the best record the band has done since their seminal debut. How? Why? What the hell did they eat for breakfast before heading into the studio?? Beats the hell outta me, pardners. Maybe they all just simultaneously found a lost and crumpled lax / 1k kroner in their leather pants and rode into the studio in the tip-toppiest of moods. Whatever the reason, Avenge the Fallen delivers the flippin’ goods, and those goods equate to catchy, bright, anthemic odes to crushing your doldrums into dust. You know, like classic, kick-ass HammerFall. Glory to the brave!

Style: HammerFall
Location: Sweden
Sample: “The End Justifies”
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release date: August 9
Band website: HammerFall

4. New Horizon – Conquerors

[Cover artwork: Eric Philippe]

“Speed management… G-Force… LET’S RUN IT.”

{hurtles down a steep hill on a dangerous homemade luge and straight into an Apalache camper}

In case you’re unfamiliar with Criterion Collection films, that’s a vital snippet from Hot Rod, the classic 2007 biopic about an aspiring stuntman named Rod Kimble. Rod doesn’t follow trends, because his life is 100% governed by his own unique vision, and that vision requires a soundtrack that’s as big, bold and blaring as the stunts he’s attempting. Are you gonna jump every van from the local Pull-A-Part with the bloody Arctic Monkeys as your soundtrack? Not if you want to stay out of the ER, you’re not. This is where New Horizon comes into the picture. A record like Conquerors packs all the power, pluck and glory a person could ever hope to experience as a soundtrack to bold (possibly reckless) endeavors, and the fact that the two primary New Horizon members—Jona Tee of Crowne / H.E.A.T. and Nils Molin of Dynazty—have years of experience with infusing a strong sense of AOR into a metal blueprint only serves to amplify the necessary OOMPH that begs these songs to peel out from a huge arena. And speaking of bold, the decision to close the album with an absolutely magnificent cover of Iron Maiden’s “Alexander the Great?” Well, not exactly ‘first human to eat an oyster’ bold, but it is close!

Style: pAORwer
Location: Sweden
Sample: “Daimyo”
Label: Frontiers Records
Release date: June 14
Band website: New Horizon

3. War Dogs – Only the Stars Are Left

[Cover artwork: The Knight at the Crossroad by Victor Vasnetsov]

War Dogs is a young band from Elche, Spain that sounds as if the members came into heavy metal listening to The Right Stuff, then mined for The Right Stuff when it came time to dig a little deeper into the underground, and are now playing The Right Stuff when it finally comes time to deliver their own goods. Now, whether or not they managed to watch the film The Right Stuff somewhere in-between all that goodness seems somehow unlikely, given their clear fondness for decidedly un-spacey things such as halberds and war horses, but I could of course be wrong. (Side note: Halberds & War Horses in Space would be a fine name for a power metal album.)

Right… So, what exactly is The Right Stuff as it relates to Only the Stars Are Left? Well, it basically amounts to loads of classic USPM in the style of Manowar and Virgin Steele, which then leads to more epic hammerers such as DoomSword, Crescent Shield and IronSword, and then finally concludes with War Dogs launching an ideal amalgamation of all those bands into something that’s as EPIC and POWERFUL as an Eric Adams screeeaaaam from Into Glory Ride.

I would say Only the Stars Are Left is a fairly straightforward affair, but War Dogs does a really great job of varying the pacing and atmosphere across the full 48 minutes. Plus, the leads top to bottom here are nothing short of amazing.

Gus Grissom: “Fuckin’ A, bubba.”

Style: USPM with The Right Stuff
Location: Spain
Sample: “Riders of the Storm”
Label: Fighter Records
Release date: October 15
Bandcamp: War Dogs

2. Warlord – Free Spirit Soar

[Cover artwork: Velio Josto]

‘Twouldn’t feel right to kick off this blurb without quickly addressing the controversy surrounding the release of Free Spirit Soar.

Synopsis: What would Warlord be without guitarist William J “Destroyer” Tsamis, who very unfortunately passed away on May 13th of 2021. The roundabout answer is… Sorta nothing? Tsamis was the driving force behind the band and the principal songwriter, HOWEVER… co-founder / drummer Mark “Thunder Child” Zonder (A-Z, ex-Fates Warning and too many other bands to mention) was also there from day one, and without his gumption concerning business acumen and networking, Warlord likely would never have reached the public at large. In other words, this was very much a partnership, and I am of the opinion that Zonder’s presence here makes up for the fact that, you know, we’re addressing a ‘new’ Warlord album that, outside of some Tsamis guitar work tastefully blended in from old demos, does not actually involve our beloved “Destroyer.” So, yes, very much a case of “this is an endearing tribute to the man,” and I wholeheartedly believe Tsamis would be extremely pleased with the way Zonder and crew addressed what was left of his residual work.

I… sort of hated the idea of this album at first, because it didn’t seem possible for this interpretation of Warlord to recapture the sacred magic of Deliver Us, a release I hold close enough to my heart to include it alongside Queensrÿche and Sortilège as the holy trinity of All-Time Great trad EPs. Furthermore, I was upset at the prospect of hearing anything Warlord-related without the Tsamis name credited for all the moving parts. Again, to be clear, these songs are largely pieced together from stacks of unfinished Tsamis demo material, but welding it all together and coming up with lyrics and vocal melodies (outside of the Lordian Guard songs that bookend the record) was primarily done by vocalist / producer Giles Lavery, who surely deserves some sort of medal for his efforts. Suffice to say, the fact that this record exists is testament to a lot of hard work from a number of dedicated Tsamis friends / admirers, but my bullheadedness still won out for months.

Then one day, the album’s second track “The Rider” hit me like freight train—mowing me over with its playful melody and hammering home the notion that it will ultimately stand as my favorite power metal tune of 2024. A unique form of joy is attached to the hook of “The Rider.” It’s not quite pop, but that keyboard lick is dangerously infectious, and it stuck to what’s left of my brain matter for weeks on end. Boom: The record firmly planted a foot in the door, and I have since found myself very much enjoying the slicing, dicing and absorbing of the remaining songs on a wonderfully personal level. The keyboards in particular, and the way they engage with Eric Juris’ superb guitar work, really capture an elder energy that makes the record feel as if the band ripped it from the room of a Warlord freak circa 1984. The full journey is dark and mystical, but the ever-present tunefulness Tsamis so thoroughly mastered is a constant salvation, and now I sit here wondering why on earth I waited so long to allow myself to enjoy it.

In the end, given some rather challenging circumstances, I think these fellows nailed the intention behind Free Spirit Soar. That being said, if they decide to move forward for whatever reason, I do hope they modify the name in some way.

Soar free, Bill! You are missed!

Style: USPM ELITE
Location: USA
Sample: “Conquerors”
Label: High Roller Records
Release date: May 10
Bandcamp: Warlord

1. Saber Tiger – Eliminated

[Cover artwork: Nooooo clue]

I am a ‘physical product or GTFO’ sort of music fan that was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital world via a slow acculturation at the hands of promos and bandcamp. Now that I’m here and have taken the next leap into a premium streaming service, I cannot believe it’s taken this long for me to embrace the sheer convenience of it all. Yes, I still vastly prefer the haptic satisfaction of an LP / CD / cassette, but before jumping into Apple Music I never could’ve hoped to explore, dissect and digest the vastly under-appreciated (here in the US) metal scene from Japan because, by and large, Japanese bands—or rather, their labels—have never seemed to care that much about reaching these United States. As a result, I have spent decades watching long-standing bands such as Anthem, X Japan, Dead End and Saber Tiger from the outside and wondering if I would love them as much as I do the handful of Japanese acts that somehow DID find their way into US bins 30+ years ago: Loudness, E-Z-O and (perhaps surprisingly) Genocide Nippon.

All of this is my way of pointing out that Saber Tiger’s Eliminated probably wouldn’t be on this list if I didn’t have a streaming service, and that, my friends, is a shame. Japanese metal largely sidesteps bandcamp, and very few distros (if any) bother carrying physical copies. Case in point: If I wanted a physical copy of Eliminated, which I do, my only choice Stateside is to swallow my pride and pay Jeff Fricken Bezos $44 for the privilege of having the CD hurled at my front porch. A quick look at Discogs reveals three CD copies available from the same distro for $88, $94 and $104. That’s… Frustrating, especially considering the quality of the material in question, which is obviously the reason we’re here.

Why should we care about Eliminated? I suppose that answer largely depends on which flavor of power typically blows your hair back these days. Bouncy Euro power this is not. Epic dragon-slaying power is also a NOPE. And despite the ‘progressive metal’ tag on Metal Archives, Saber Tiger is a distant cry from bands such as Kamelot and Dream Theater, or even classics like Fates Warning and Queensrÿche. What Saber Tiger is, however, is a wonderful amalgamation of classic US power in the vein of Armored Saint, Chastain and Fifth Angel, filtered through the Japanese scene’s penchant for bending the rules via a virtuosic approach to playing. The 10¢ review: If you love classic metal riffs and leads like I love classic metal riffs and leads, and you also love it when those classic metal riffs and leads are gilded in power’s predilection for enthusiastically pounding VIRTUOUS ENERGY into our overworked veins, there is no reason you shouldn’t love Eliminated with your entire heart.

Akihito Kinoshita!!! He’s been the driving force behind Saber Tiger for over four decades, and the man has not lost an ounce of his six-stringed vigor in all that time. Honestly, I don’t understand how his name isn’t known as well as so many of the other guitar greats of metal that have braved decades of playing, but it probably has something to do with the lack of exposure discussed above. Kinoshita plays the sort of leads you’d expect George Lynch to fire off while straddling an active volcano, and he riffs just as hard as fellow Japanese maestros Syu and Midori Tatematsu / Miyako Watanabe. Fittingly, he surrounds himself with a revolving door of top-shelf musicians who always end up matching his level of play and dynamism. The 2024 result: 54 minutes of largely high octane bangers packed to the rafters with leads, hooks and a perhaps surprising amount of blitz, and done so in a way that: 1) manages to showcase every player’s top-shelf skill, and 2) explores classic power in a manner that allows all sorts of other styles to embellish the corners. So, expect thrash, hard rock and prog to make appearances, and trust that it will be folded into the Saber Tiger design in a way that makes it all not only fell welcome, but as if it germinated very organically. Eliminated very simply jams, and the wealth of influences that make up the full picture ensures the listener an engaging experience each time it’s taken out for a spin, which does wonders for longevity.

Suuuurrrrre would be nice and great and amazing to have the actual physical product in my hands, though.

Style: USPM By Way Of Japan
Location: Japan
Sample: “Madara No Tori”
Label: Walküre Records
Release date: September 15
Band website: Saber Tiger

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2024’s Full List of 280 Contenders (Bandcamp links provided where applicable):

Absolon – The Blood Seed
Abysswalker – A Spire at the Gates of Heaven
Achelous – Tower of High Sorcery
Adamantra – Act III: Pareidolia of Depravity
Adventus – Lo que trajo el viento
Aeon Gods – King of Gods
After Infinity – After Infinity
AfterTime – Arcane Horizons
Aihisna – 深淵のディアボロス
Alestorm – Voyage of the Dead Marauder EP
Alterium – Of War and Flames
Ana – The Art of Letting Go EP
Ancient Curse – Dimension 5
Anette Olzon – Rapture
Anga – Straight to Hell EP
Anubis – Dark Paradise
Anvil – One and Only
Aquelarre – Antares EP
Aquelarre – Aldebarán EP
Arania – Whispering Embers
Arcane Tales – Until Where the Northern Lights Reign
Aria Inferno – Insignificance
Asgard Warriors – Sombras del alma
Asterise – Tale of a Wandering Soul
Astral Doors – The End of It All
Astronomica – The Awakening
Athena XIX – Everflow Part 1: Frames of Humanity
Attacker – The God Particle
Aura Ignis – Marcando tu destino
Auro Control – The Harp
Avenguard – A Tear of Hope EP
Avenguard – Break the Chains EP
Axel Rudi Pell – Risen Symbol
Axxis – Coming Home
Bad Marilyn – Eye of the Snake
Bane of Havoc – Resistance
Battle Tales – Greed of a King
Binary Creed – Leash of Noise
Black Sun – Black Sun
Black Wings – Whispers of Time
Bloodorn – Let the Fury Rise
Boguslaw Balcerak’s Crylord – Endless Life
Brothers Of Metal – Fimbulvinter
Captain Hawk – Ghosts of the Sea
Carmeria – Tragédie d’amour
Cathubodua – Interbellum
Chrysalïd – Breaking the Chains
Cloven Hoof – Heathen Cross
Concerto Moon – Back Beyond Time
Coventhrall – Legacy of Morfuidra
Crystal Viper – The Silver Key
Curse Breaker – Taking the Crown EP
Curse Guard – Origins EP
Dagorlath – Apocalipsis
Dawn of Destiny – IX
DGM – Endless
Dialith – Alter EP
Die For My Sins – Scream
Distant Past – Solaris
Draconicon – A Symphony of Pestilence
DragonForce – Warp Speed Warriors
Dragonspell – На границе миров
Dragony – Hic Svnt Dracones
Drakkar – Spread Your Wings
Dream Evil – Metal Gods
DreamGate – DreamGate
Dreamweaver – Sign of the Ancient Flame EP
El Reno Renardo – Regreso al metalverso
Elettra Storm – Powerlords
Elfensjón – Zenith
Elvellon – Ascending in Synergy
Embrace of Souls – Forever a Part of Me
Emerald Eye – Night Without Day
Empires of Eden – Guardians of Time
Eregion – Non Omnis Moriar
Ërendil – Songs of Ancient Magic
Esclavitud – Stronger than a God
Eternal Breath – Road to Insanity
Ethereal Dawn – The Tales of the Winterheart EP
Ethereal Flames – Myths and Legends of Our Land
Europica – Part Two
Evergrey – Theories of Emptiness
Everrime – One
Eveth – Sellando el destino
Factory of Art – Back to Life
Fatal Fire – Arson
Fate Gear – The Vanguard of Hades EP
Feline Melinda – Seven
Fellowship – The Skies Above Eternity
Fire Action – Until the Heat Dies
Firewind – Stand United
Flashback of Anger – Prisoner of War
Flotsam and Jetsam – I Am the Weapon
Forja – Món Oblidat
Forlorn Hope – Valour – Part I EP
Freedom Call – Silver Romance
Frozen Crown – War Hearts
Galneryus – The Stars Will Light the Way
Gauntlet Rule – After the Kill
Glorius – Renacer
Glyph – Honor. Power. Glory.
Greyhawk – Thunderheart
Grimgotts – The Time of the Wolfrider
Hammer King – König und Kaiser
HammerFall – Avenge the Fallen
Hartlight – As Above, So Below
Haunter – Tales of the Seven Seas
Heroes of the Gauntlet – Tales from the Maze EP
Hextar – Doomsayer
Hizaki – The Zodiac Sign
Holy Dragons – Fortress
Holy Mother – Rise
Holy Shire – Invincible
Hyloxalus – Make Me the Heart of the Black Hole
Hypersonic – Kaosmogonia
Idol Throne – A Clarion Call
Ignitor – Horns and Hammers
Impellitteri – War Machine
Imperia – Dark Paradise
In Vain – Back to Nowhere
Infinite Corridor – Serpent Gate
InnerWish – Ash of Eternal Flame
Innocence Lost – Oblivion
Iron Echo – Forged in Fire
IronFlame – Kingdom Torn Asunder
Irthangaz – La maldición de Irthangaz
Ivory Tower – Heavy Rain
Jonathan Young – Helldivers Heavy Metal
Kamijo – Violet Dawn EP
Kingcrown – Nova Atlantis
Kiuas – Samooja: Pyhiinvaellus EP
Klynt – Thunderous
Knightsune – Fearless
Kraamola – Ідол
Krilloan – Return of the Heralds
Kronoceptor – Exordium EP
Lay of the Autumn – Of Love and Sorrow
Leaves’ Eyes – Myths of Fate
Legions of the Night – Darkness
Leyendas de Cierzo – De cierzo y Carcosa
Liv Moon – Circle of Life
Lords of Black – Mechanics of Predacity
Lords of the Trident – V.G.E.P. EP
Lost in Grey – Odyssey into the Grey
Lovebites – Lovebites EP II
Lunage – Tales from the Forgotten Lands
Lutharo – Chasing Euphoria
Mad Hatter – Oneironautics
Mägo de Oz – Alicia en el Metalverso
Mana Diagram – Light of the Destiny EP
Manticora – Mycelium
Marble – T.I.M.E.
Marcel Verand Memorias de un Despertar – Reclama tu Libertad
Marcel Verand Memorias de un Despertar – Ira & Traicón
Martin Templum Domini – The Dark Matter
Mediera – Storytellers of the Middle Age
Melodius Deite – Demonology
Messiah of Fire – Distant Lands and Inner Reflections
Metal de Facto – Land of the Rising Sun – Part 1
Metalite – Expedition One
Milford Mocs & Gunther Cucs – Cremem los putos bancs
Millennial Reign – World On Fire
Minstrelix – Minstrelics
Mourning Divine – Be Free – No More Masters
Myrath – Karmav
Naoki Morioka – Modernize EP
Nemedian Chronicles – The Savage Sword
New Horizon – Conquerors
Night Hearth – La noche de los sueños perdidos
Nightmare – Encrypted
Nightwish – Yesterwynde
Nocturna – Of Sorcery and Darkness
Northwind Saga – The Mythical Ring EP
Nurcry – Renacer
Oathbringer – Tales of Valor
Opera Magna – Heroica
Opus Magnum – Fairy of Death EP
Orden Ogan – The Order of Fear
Orion Child – Aesthesis
Orkhys – Legends
Ousiodes – The Forest
Outworld – Sky Keeper
Outworld – Way of the Samurai
Pandora’s Key – Yet I Remain
Paragon – Metalation
Paralydium – Universe Calls
Parfaitarmour – Diabolics
Patxa – Just Heavy Metal
Perseus – Into the Silence
Pirate Hymn – Explorer
Pirate Queen – Ghosts
Power Castle – Spanish Steps
PowerCross – The Lost Empire
Powerwolf – Wake Up the Wicked
Project Arcadia – Of Sins and Other Tales
Project R.I.P. – Phoenix EP
Questing Beast – Birth
Rage – Afterlifelines
Rata Blanca – Rock es Rock! EP
Re-Arise – Revive
Release the Titans – Odyssey
Rhapsody of Fire – Challenge the Wind
Riot V – Mean Streets
Ruthless – The Fallen
Ryujin – Ryujin
Saber Tiger – Eliminated
Satra – Sand of Time
Savage Oath – Divine Battle
Savage Wizdom – Who’s Laughing Now
Scanner – The Cosmic Race
Sebastien – Quo Vadis
Serafín Mendoza – Un nuevo despertar
Serious Black – Rise of Akhenaton
Seven Kingdoms – The Square EP
Seven Spires – A Fortress Called Home
Seventh Dimension – Of Hope & Ordeals
Severed Angel – Skyward
Shadows of Steel – Twilight II
Shiver of Frontier – Spirits Rising EP
Silent Winter – Utopia
Simone Simons – Vermillion
Sinner’s Blood – Dark Horizons
Sirius – A Quest for Life
Sirius – Fly High EP
Sky Wolves – Forgotten Tales
SkyEye – New Horizons
Sleeper’s Keep – Tales Beyond the Past
Sonata Arctica – Clear Cold Beyond
StarChaser – Into the Great Unknown
Stargate – Escaping the Illusion
Stilverlight – Dead Souls
Storia – Revenant – The Silver Age EP
Stormborn – Zenith
Stormhunter – Best Before: Death
Stranger Vision – Faust – Act I Prelude to Darkness
Strevellna – Revoldom
Striker – Ultrapower
Subfire – Blood Omen
Sunburst – Manifesto
Symakya – Project 11: The Landing
Synthwalker – Cruciform
Tears of Tragedy – Wonder Arts
Tezza F. – Key to Your Kingdom
The Grandmaster – Black Sun
The Lightbringer – Seven Thrones
The Resilient Dream Project – Te recordaré EP
Theragon – Lumina EP
Thornbridge – Daydream Illusion
Throne of Thorns – Converging Parallel Worlds
Thunder and Lightning – Of Wrath and Ruin
Timeless Fairytale – A Story to Tell
Timo Tolkki – Classical Variations and Themes 2: Ultima Thule
Triddana – Breaking from the Field
Triton Project – Messenger’s Quest
Triumpher – Spirit Invictus
Tungsten – The Grand Inferno
Turbokill – Champion
Týr – Battle Ballads
Unleash the Archers – Phantoma
Valhalla – Memories of Yggdrasil
Valkyria – Indómito
Valkyrie’s Fire – Ascension EP
Veil of the Serpent – Gallery of Sin
Velvet Darkness – Rise EP
Veonity – The Final Element
Vhäldemar – Sanctuary of Death
Vision Divine – Blood and Angels’ Tears
Visions of Atlantis – Pirates II – Armada
Voice – Holy or Damned
Voodoo Kiss – Feel the Curse
Warlord – Free Spirit Soar
Whiteabbey – Words that Form the Key
Wind Rose – Trollslayer
Windrow – Deus Universi
Winterborn – Break Another Day
Witherfall – Sounds of the Forgotten
Xeneris – Eternal Rising
Zenobia – Borraré tu Nombre EP
Zenobia – Melodías encantadas
薔薇の宮殿 – Picaresque

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The post We Have The Power – The Top 25 Power And Power-Related Albums Of 2024 appeared first on Last Rites.

“These Magyars are after me flag, yarrrrrr (on account of how good they are at their cozy niche corner of atmospheric black metal).”

Yes, this is terrible, I know. But you know what’s not terrible? Sear Bliss. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve already got the bullet points: Sear Bliss. Hungary. Brass instruments. Black metal. With that abbreviated syllabus, most of you will know whether to stay or to bail, so let’s just wait a moment for the squares and rubes to exit the hall.

Ahhh, much better. Now that it’s just us here, cozy up to the stereo and let’s get down to, ahem… brass tacks. On album number nine, Sear Bliss continues the enviable winning streak that 2018’s Letter from the Edge rejuvenated while presenting slight tweaks to their sound. The slightly odd comparison that I can’t quite shake is that Heavenly Down feels to Sear Bliss like Old Mornings Dawn feels to Summoning: coming off a possible career-high and riding that wave with equally confident songwriting and carefully intricate electronic elements.

Friend, if I tell you that what defines Sear Bliss these days is “casual elegance” you will probably think I am trying to sell you tasseled penny loafers or a dining room set. But Heavenly Down spends even more time than usual strolling through contemplative, majestic fields full of beautiful tones and unselfconscious arrangements. The production here is balanced but so unobtrusive as to be almost naked. That is, with atmospheric black metal, a lot of bands seem to skate by on the mystique of distant or muffled or peculiar production choices, and while this does sometimes add to a distinct and beneficial atmosphere, it’s refreshing to hear a band like Sear Bliss just put everything right upfront. It’s like they’re saying, “We don’t have anything to hide; we want to impress you with what we did, not with what you think we might have done.”

For black metal, Heavenly Down doesn’t aim to impress primarily with speed or heaviness. In fact, even the distortion on the guitars is fairly muted, sometimes landing in an almost jangly rock tone like a slightly heavier Ved Buens Ende. Album opener “Infinite Grey” is one of the zippiest tunes, but it takes frequent stretch-out breaks and keeps bringing back a knotty, sass-filled half-time riff. Just when it feels like the song is going to fade out on a neat interplay between band leader András Nagy’s keys and Zoltán Pál’s brass layers, it drops into an immensely satisfying heaving riff and chant that lands like the best of late-period Rotting Christ.

Each of the album’s eight songs is excellent on its own terms, but there’s a thoughtful arc to the album, a flow that elevates each piece. After the storming end to the opener, “Watershed” opens with gorgeous steel drum tones and stalks at a more restrained pace, while “The Upper World” launches into straight-ahead drumming and a soaring tremolo riff. The album’s B-side begins with the fully synth instrumental “Forgotten Deities,” which swirls and echoes cosmically like newer-school acts such as Spectral Lore or Mare Cognitum (but really more than a little bit like “Tomhet”), which in turn is followed by the punky, impatient two-step of “The Winding Path.” Pál’s horn line on the title track is perhaps the album’s most engrossing melody, but late-album highlight “Chasm” might be the strongest overall song, with its stomping intro, tumbling percussion, and clean vocal chorus that is interwoven with the brass for a truly beautiful polyphony.

Heavenly Down absolutely breezes by with its compact, 44-minute display of unassuming excellence. If you don’t know Sear Bliss, it’s never too late to join their broadcast now in-progress. At the 3:27 mark in album closer “Feathers in Ashes,” a simple, plaintive guitar lead sings out. It’s brief, unflashy, hardly even a solo, but it hands the song back to a pummeling bass anchor and return to the song’s main theme, a jagged, slashing rhythm that holds space for lovely keyboard tones. That’s the way with Sear Bliss: reaching for sky, sifting the warm earth, forging the path.

The post Sear Bliss – Heavenly Down Review appeared first on Last Rites.

At this point in his legendary career, listeners can have a pretty good idea of what to expect from a new Ihsahn album. That’s not to say that he doesn’t shift moods and styles ‒ he’s shown quite the range from his early Emperor days to now ‒ but his aura as a musician and bandleader provides such an identifiable throughline no matter how far he’s veering from Norwegian black metal. That aura, that presence, is rather regal and more than a little arrogant, but any arrogance feels earned through the always stately quality of his music, his very obvious vision, and his overall legacy, no matter whether he’s setting a new bar for progressive black metal on After, getting extra experimental on Das Seelenbrechen, or reminding everyone how much he loves Van Halen riffs on Arktis.

In Ihsahn’s case, it’s clear from this album that it was a personal decision. Ihsahn the album feels as much a statement of who he is as a person as anything since his solo debut The Adversary, and both self-referential lyrical moments and a stylistic breadth that crosses the decades hammer this point home. This is a somewhat distilled Ihsahn: progressive, symphonic, misanthropic, and delightfully brash, yes, but also more self-aware and focused than he’s seemed for a good while.

It’s also one of the strongest sets of songs of his solo career, despite being one of the few albums where he’s not overtly expanding his toolkit. Ihsahn has conditioned us to usually expect some level of experimentation or exploration, but the success here is perhaps partly due to the fact that instead of making obvious forays into new territory he’s merely making some refined nudges to his existing edges and letting the songs do the talking. The biggest nudge is in the symphonic realm, with an expanded use of violin and other strings and horns (or at least simulated strings and horns; they definitely sound real). An intro (and interlude and outro) of nothing but these instruments instantly emphasizes this approach, not to mention that elegant and theatrical vibe as well.

Beyond that, Ihsahn is really just about bringing a really great, cohesive set of songs that each bring something a little different to the overall party, be it an extra bit of majesty, blackened furor, heavy metal thunder, or everything at once. “The Promethean Spark” shows a somewhat restrained Ihsahn, at least at first, despite the obvious technical prowess on display, providing a lot of space for both his still-tip-top harsh vocals and gorgeous singing to shine as it slowly builds its complexity and orchestral theatricality to a dramatic finish. Stylistically it’s a bit of a down-the-middle Ihsahn song in this way ‒ not too far down the black or prog paths ‒ and a great way to introduce the very chamber metal feel of the album.

On the far more blackened, near-Emperor side of things is “Pilgrimage to Oblivion,” which thrills with all its fiery tremolo riffs, blasts, and rageful screams, but it hits another level of drama when the percussion (in part provided by Ihsahn’s son Angell) does a real “drums of war” kind of pounding with fluttering strings flying overhead. Compare that song to “Blood Trails to Love,” which itself is a contrast of eerie, creepy verses and an irresistibly melodic and near-pop chorus. It works in the way jokesters like to say Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime” works, as if some evil ritual is interrupted by intruders so the enchanters act like nothing is going on and get all sweet and pretty. Except it’s really good and not, you know, Paul McCartney’s “Wonderful Christmastime.”

Elsewhere, “A Taste of the Ambrosia” shows how much emotional depth Ihsahn can display using his harsh vocals over gorgeous, less intense music; “Twice Born” rocks with a really fist-pumping, straightforward drive while featuring one of the album’s great vocal moments; “Hubris and Blue Devils” goes extra proggy with the rhythms while offering more true blackened blasting, some serious orchestral bombast, and another supremely catchy chorus; and big finish “At the Heart of All Things Broken” takes its time setting a truly epic scale with as much beauty as intensity, calling to mind past closers like “The Pain is Still Mine” and “On the Shores.” It should also go without saying that it all sounds impeccable, with a killer mix that emphasizes a warm and rather analog sounds, particularly in the rhythm guitars, drums, and sneakily active bass.

It’s a wicked good set of songs that flows just about perfectly and tells a story both musically and lyrically, the latter in a way that feels both fantastical and rather autobiographical. To put it another way, the album seems to both expand the mythology of Ihsahn the figure/character and speak to the life of Vegard Tveitan the human. More obvious signs like mentioning the figure Prometheus in a song title or saying he has “The sweet taste of wine” on his lips in “Pilgrimage to Oblivion” (perhaps referencing the gloriously arrogant first line of AngL’s “Misanthrope”) seem like direct callbacks, while other lyrical passages seem to hint at everything from coming of age (“Blood Trails to Love” and “Twice Born”) to his relationship with the wider Norwegian black metal scene and all that entails.

If the latter impression is correct, this theme shows up most notably in “Hubris and Blue Devils” (which is not, it turns out, about Duke basketball fans). Here Ihsahn directly refers to himself again as “The Adversary,” but the “hubris” in the title hints at a deeper, more reflective and mature theme underneath the brashness. He states that he always wanted a “worthy opponent,” but asks if such a desire makes him his worst enemy and speaks of “A spiral of convulsion” in which “The anger fed the shame” (a direct reference to Eremita’s “The Paranoid”). It all seems pretty personal and introspective until you examine how some lines hint at dangerous relationships and perhaps even some more infamous figures:

Perfumed discourse
Hollow convictions
Moderation and humility
Coalitions
Cloak and dagger
The ambiguous nature of loyalty
In ennui I turned my head
To confide in the dead

That could be about anyone learning to unstick themselves from toxic situations, but it’s hard not to imagine Ihsahn’s relationship to and emergence from the early Norwegian black metal scene when hearing it out of his mouth.

Interviews will likely reveal if such interpretations of these songs are correct or if I’m way off base and he’s simply building upon that mythology for a good story, but what can’t be denied are all the self-referential moments. Some listeners might be turned off by such things, especially for an artist that typically has his eyes set directly forward, but if you’ve stuck through Ihsahn’s oft-self-aggrandizing lyrical moments for the past 30 years (“I AM THE EMPEROR!!!”), then you probably won’t have a bit of an issue with anything here. This is particularly likely given that he adds as much reflection as he ever has in the past (and even bits of humility) and delivers his words with what is still one of the best voices in the business.

In the end, Ihsahn isn’t going to necessarily surprise you stylistically or in terms of personality, but if you’ve hung around for part or most of his career, it’s going to make you extremely happy. Ihsahn shows Ihsahn being really, really good at being Ihsahn, which is probably the biggest reason why it’s called Ihsahn. Absolutely no part of me thinks the man is done innovating or flying his freak flag, but this record shows how supremely kickass he is at simply being an excellent version of himself. This is a minor triumph for him at this stage of his career (even though he isn’t yet even 50 years old…) and a no-brainer for all fans of progressive and symphonic extreme metal, theatricality and drama, or simply indulging the whims of one of metal’s all-time great visionaries.

[deal with it]

The post Ihsahn – Ihsahn Review appeared first on Last Rites.

Wh… Why should that excite you? Well, maybe it shouldn’t if you happen to be a beef-headed buzzkill who’s weirdly averse to all things fun AND related to itemizing the things we love. For the rest of us, though, the arrival of WHTP not only heralds the arrival of this year’s best power (and power-related) releases, it ushers in the official commencement of the Last Rites List Season, which is clearly the most important thing to happen to this planet since the establishment of indoor plumbing. High and vainglorious praise, for sure, but who doesn’t love a little self-love? Just be sure to lock that bathroom door.

Hey! How’ve you been? How’s the wife / husband / partner / animal companion(s) / cell mate? Great! That’s really great to hear. You all look and smell terrific, and I am very much aflame with sheer thrill to have everyone in these halls again.

If you’ve been paying attention, it actually hasn’t been terribly long since we last gathered, as I spent the entire summer of 2023 cataloging and writing about THE GREATEST POWER METAL ALBUMS OF ALL TIME, as depicted by the following articles that dropped throughout May, June, July and August:

» The Top 50 US Power Metal Releases of All Time, Part 1
» The Top 50 US Power Metal Releases of All Time, Part 2
» The Top 100 Power Metal Albums of All Time, Part 1
» The Top 100 Power Metal Albums of All Time, Part 2
» The Top 100 Power Metal Albums of All Time, Part 3
» The Top 100 Power Metal Albums of All Time, Part 4
» The Top 100 Power Metal Albums of All Time, The Closing Ceremony

In other words, it’s been a very power metal year for yours truly and Last Rites, and power’s penchant for positivity has in turn improved my overall attitude and mental health amidst some of the lamest hours Earth has experienced to date, politically, socially, environmentally and several other ‘ally’s. Good news for us all: Power metal is a balm, and it’s primed and ready to assist any and all who choose to participate. What a deal.

So, what’s new? As far as power trends are concerned, I would say finally crawling out from under the pandemic cloud has absolutely affected this year’s overall power blueprint. Previous years amidst worldwide lockdowns, artists had more time to create, and they took full advantage of modern technology in order to do so, resulting in total WHTP album counts in 2021 and 2022 reaching over 300. By comparison, 2023 has still managed to deliver one hell of a load of entries, but we top out with about 210 albums, which is the main reason I’ve scaled the top albums back down to 25 compared to 30 in the two previous years.

Also appreciated in 2023 sans pandemic: bearing witness to a serious decline in albums with a near infinite amount of guest vocalists. Sure, that can be fun in smaller doses, but umpteen artists all in the game of e-viting as many people as humanly possible for contributions across an endless amount of minutes? SPREAD OUT! If I wanna hear 50 cast members howling for the spotlight, I’ll go see a local production of The Taming of the Shrew. Anyway, quite a few albums in this year’s pile come across much more focused and straightforward, and I can’t help but wonder if finally getting an opportunity to hit the road again had something to do with that. Streamline the formula, go out and light some heads on fire from the stage. Not literally.

Beyond that, one last thing I’ll comment on relates to the fact that despite the lower numbers in 2023, the overall quality was pretty much through the roof. Like, paring things down to a tidy 25 was a real exercise, and I honestly believe I could’ve made a top 40 this year without worrying too much about a sharp decline in quality for the albums bringing up the rear. 25 top tier albums is a healthy piece of pie, though, no? Let’s jump in.

And welcome to Last Rites List Season!

THE TOP 3 EPS OF 2023

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3. Induction – The Power of Power

[Cover artwork: Péter Sallai] I’m sure we can all agree that the power of power can indeed be quite powerful, particularly when wielded by a band as power intent as Czechia’s Induction. You know about these guys, right? I was dumb enough to miss their self-titled splashdown from 2019, but 2022’s Born from Fire delivered a fiery blast big enough to nail down the coveted no. 2 spot in last year’s WHTP, directly behind the very mighty Blind Guardian and The God Machine. With this, the band’s first official EP, Induction brings to light two brand new songs, “Set You Free” and “A Call Beyond,” with the rest of the release offering up two songs each from the band’s previous full-lengths. So, yeah, maybe not essential for anyone who’s already very familiar with the group, but I clearly think the EP remains worthy of full attention based on the merits of the two new cuts alone. “Set You Free” is an homage to the classic super-charged energy behind timeless early works from bands like Helloween and Gamma Ray, both of which find an even deeper connection here via Induction guitarist Tim Hansen (yes, that Hansen), and “A Call Beyond” delivers a slightly slower, more introspective anthem that comes across like a warm, proggy hug to the ol’ heart. Might’ve landed higher if I wasn’t already familiar with four of the songs.

Style: Symphonic Power
Country: Czechia
Sample: “Set You Free”
Label: Atomic Fire Records
Release date: August 4
Band website: Induction

2. Palantír – Nightmare Opus

[Cover artwork: Madeleine Andersson] I have come a very long way from the lawless, keyboard hating hair farmer I was in my youth. I mean, I still break the law—who doesn’t—but gone are the long locks, and I now say “hello, how do you do, please come in” to keyboards of most any form, especially when it involves the mystickal keytar. Well, Sweden’s Palantír is a very keyboard forward power metal band, and they deliver a notably bright form of the Euro strain that sounds as if the songs were all birthed from ivory tinkling (yes, I said tinkling) jam sessions unlocked by keytarist Johannes Frykholm. This results in an overall footprint that’s delightfully otherworldly and really not that far off from what one might expect if Styx (the band) were obsessed with Helloween. Wait, say what? Styx? Yeah, just go with it. And if you’re too young to remember Styx, just raid the tapes stacked in your uncle’s garage the next time he drags you to his house to help clean out a storage closet. Bottom line: Nightmare Opus will only be a nightmare if you’re one of those fussbudget soreheads who recoils as soon as a keyboard enters the room. Thank goodness I’m not that guy anymore.

Style: Keytar Power
Country: Sweden
Sample: “A Distant Place”
Label: Stormspell Records
Release date: October 31
Bandcamp: Palantír

1. Glyph – When the World Was Young

[Cover artwork: Uncredited, but it probably took about 2 minutes to create] Please, for the love of Pete and all his cohorts, do not confuse this version of Glyph with the one-person black metal band of the same name from Partsunknown, USA that appears to be upset enough about the former’s sudden existence that they decided to borrow their logo. Never mind the fact that there’s also a metalcore band called Glyph in Indonesia, the scoundrels. There’s more juicy drama there, I really don’t know. What I do know, though, is this: Glyph the power metal band is ready to win the fricken day, and they will do so by swinging into the room with a triumphant form of synthy / symphy / spiffy power that’s as barrel-chested as a gorilla on a particularly potent sugar high after shotgunning a 32oz Rockstar. Did I mention this is a supergroup? Does the word “supergroup” normally send you running? It really shouldn’t. Especially in this case, because Glyph counts members of Gatekeeper, Ravenous and Greyhawk in their ranks. Super, no? No wonder that other feller borrowed their logo.

Style: Pure Pixel Power
Country: International
Sample: “Honour, Power, Glory”
Label: Independent
Release date: November 17
Bandcamp: The Trve Glyph

THE TOP 25 FULL-LENGTHS OF 2023

«»

25. Vision Denied – Age of the Machine

[Cover artwork: Timo Wuerz]

When Age of the Machine first floated across the ol’ desk, the artwork and band logo lead me to believe I was about to jump into some sort of melodic speed / thrash metal. Nope! Pure melodic power, baby. Alas, my first impression amidst the initial encounter wasn’t as favorable as I’d hoped, thanks mostly to the fact that the band’s guitarist / vocalist really shines when it comes to that first role… but maybe not as much with the latter. Not a bad voice, mind you—it actually sounds quite nice when things are at their mellowest (“Would You” is totally lovely)—but his range is limited, and that ends up sticking out more because absolutely everything else to do with Age of the Machine hits the target very close to dead center. In other words, get someone with a voice that’s just as melodic, climbing and gliding as the music, and you’ve suddenly got yourself an album to threaten the top five. That being said, at some point I realized I actually couldn’t put the record down! There’s a ton of really engaging melody and a lot of deep, swirling texture to these songs—it’s dark, warm and gloriously catchy, and all the leads have this super fluid and cozy tone that reminds me of Adrian Smith circa Somewhere in Time. So, yeah, I actually wouldn’t be surprised if Age of the Machine ends up climbing the ranks over time.

Style: Pure Power
Location: Germany
Sample: “Age of the Machine”
Label: Independent
Release date: June 16
Bandcamp: Vision Denied

24. Chaos Control – The Legacy Within

[Cover artwork: Uncredited]

Japanese power metal has the tendency to overwhelm, both in terms of quantity and often stylistically, thanks to the country’s overall penchant for completely obliterating most every rule and boundary. This is a good thing. This is a wonderful thing. Especially for those who appreciate innovation and mind-blowing virtuosity. For their part, however, Chaos Control opt for a more straightforward, blitzing form of power metal that melts brains sans all the genre bending. The results: A notably volatile blueprint delivering explosive lead after explosive lead, stacked atop scores of aggressive riffs, relentless drumming, a super active bass, and siren-wail vocal duties shared by YoungChoon Cho and NorthTale’s Guilherme Hirose. Combine all that with a strong predilection for speed and you basically get Japan’s answer to Eternity’s End. And really, who in their right mind would ever say NOPE to more combustible power metal custom built for shattering any and all obstacles in your way? CHARRRRRGE!!!

Style: Combustible Power
Location: Japan
Sample: “The Legacy Within”
Label: Repentless Records
Release date: September 20
Bandcamp: Chaos Control

23. Diviner – Avaton

[Cover artwork: George Zacharoglou]

Is Diviner a bit of a cheat for a list such as this? Their sound treads prrrretty close to straight-up classic trad metal, but there remains enough of a power element in the overall blueprint to keep the power tag relevant, particularly when we take the USPM realm into consideration. With full-length number three, the band continues down a very similar path cut by the previous releases, but Avaton does so with an entirely new cast of characters backing the exceedingly gratifying, gravel-throated voice of sole OG member Yiannis Papanikolaou (the last remaining connection to fellow Hellenic heavy / power hitters InnerWish).

A record like Avaton doesn’t rely much on excessive flash—these are all straightforward belters that follow a similar formula in a way that’s comparable to, say, Iron Savior, Brainstorm and the like, but everything Diviner does, they do well, with every player’s role feeling distinct at nearly any given moment. There’s a little more variance in the two closing tracks, made apparent by their 8-minute running lengths, but even those manage to color inside the lines of “keep it mid-paced, riffy and melodic, and don’t let any one person overstay their time in the spotlight.” Also, for what it’s worth, one of the themes Diviner gets tagged with is “Christianity,” but they’re not at all the type to beat you over the head with a bible, so no helmets necessary.

Style: Heavy / Power
Location: Greece
Sample: “Waste No Time”
Label: Rock of Angels Records
Release date: November 10
Bandcamp: Diviner

22. Mystic Prophecy – Hellriot

[Cover artwork: Dušan Marković]

Unless you just popped into power metal a half hour ago, chances are pretty good you know everything that needs to be known about Germany’s long-running Mystic Prophecy. Similar to an abundance of other German power veterans, these guys are more stuck in their ways than your dear ol’ grampy propped in a Barcolounger plowing through a sixer of Old Style during Wheel of Fortune. That’s good news if you’re addicted to the more aggressive style of power that borders on thrash, which is what Mystic Prophecy has delivered for two decades-plus. But if you’re looking for some semblance of experimentation or modernism, best not to put your hopes into a record like Hellriot. So, yes, the record sounds precisely like Mystic Prophecy playing Mystic Prophecy, but it also happens to do that better than they’ve done in some time, so it’s also catchier, brighter and feels… more inspired and confident. Maybe Tony Robbins is in the band now.

Style: Heavy, Speedy, Thrashy Power
Location: Germany
Sample: “Unholy Hell”
Label: Rock of Angels Records
Release date: May 19
Bandcamp: Mystic Prophecy

21. Kamelot – The Awakening

[Cover artwork: Giannis Nakos]

I have a fairly complicated relationship with the Karevik era of Kamelot. I’m pretty sure I like it? It’s big, bombastic, dramatic, often sweeping, and reminds me of the show Outlander. However, it’s also a bit frustrating, largely because I have the Khan era of the band to compare it to, which I happen to enjoy quite a bit more because the rest of the band seemed to get more time in the spotlight back then. Anyway, suffice to say, I approach each new Kamelot album with a level of caution, hoping the more progressive face of the project will make a triumphant return… Which it probably won’t. (I’m just trying to keep it real here, homies.)

The Awakening did not surprise me at all: it’s big, bombastic, dramatic, often sweeping, and reminds me of the show Outlander. But as has become customary, it also feels as if everything is working in service to the notably talented Karevik—like all the music is happening behind a screen as Tommy performs before four judges. Hell, if someone were to approach me and say, “Can you believe there are no guitar solos on the new Kamelot,” I would be taken aback and quickly rush to my headphones to find out if it was true. There are solos, naturally, but virtually all the ornamentation on The Awakening feels exactly like that: ornamentation. But you know, it’s all still good! Like, the songs will eventually stick, you’ll want to come back, and you’ll continue to hope that the future will find Kamelot dialing back the America’s Got Talent in favor of getting back to being an actual progressive power metal band again.

Style: Karevik is On America’s Got Talent-Styled Power
Location: USA
Sample: “Eventide”
Label: Napalm Records
Release date: March 17
Band website: Kamelot

20. Valentino Francavilla – Midnight Dreams

[Cover artwork: Let’s just… let this one go]

There’s no easy way to sugarcoat the following statement, so get ready for a lil bit of assholery. Visually speaking, a record like Midnight Dreams doesn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence for what’s in store behind the cover. I mean, it’s art and someone had to work hard at it, but let’s just say that video game probably ain’t jumping off the Game Stop best-seller shelf. As such, I expected the music behind the cover to be equally as… not a top seller. WRONG. This here album delivers 35 perfectly succinct minutes of shreddy, wonderfully melodic, hugely infectious rockin’ power, entirely at the behest of one individual named, you guessed it, Valentino Francavilla. Who the heck is this guy? Well, his other gig is with White Skull, but based on his social media presence, I would say he’s basically a notably flashy guitarist who’s stoked to show off his chiseled chest. Hey, you would too; don’t look at me funny. But hello, how do you do: Just a few minutes spent with Midnight Dreams will reveal Francavilla’s clear skill as a song writer, guitarist (/bassist) and vocalist, leaving only the (very believable) drumming to technology.

Every song here is a straight-up banger—no overly syrupy ballads, no superfluous embroidery, and no overly idealistic goals to deliver anything other than extremely tight, memorable, and tuneful power. Much of the fare has a perfect amount of foot jammed on the pedal, but even when the paced is slowed, it still maintains that sweet hook. Hell, ol’ Valentino even manages to lay down some rousing gang-vocal choruses (“Witches Tree,” for example) that I assume was accomplished by simply layering Valentino atop Valentino over even more Valentino. Friend, when the results are this fun, let’s just go ahead and give the green light to clone Valentino.

Style: Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover Power
Location: Italy
Sample: “Witches Tree”
Label: Independent
Release date: October 17
Bandcamp: Valentino Francacvilla

19. Great Master – Montecristo

[Cover artwork: Jahn Vision Art]

I can’t see the name Great Master without hearing Guillermo from What We Do in the Shadows saying “Greeeaaaat, master…” to the ever endearing Nandor the Relentless. For what it’s worth, that absolutely works to the band’s favor, but what truly lands a record like Montecristo on a list like this is 100% owed to the fact that these ostentatious Italians just so happen to be very adept at crafting absurdly infectious, grandiose power metal that all but begs the listener to wonder if perhaps maybe perchance they might actually be able to pull off wearing a puffy pirate shirt at the next team building meeting at their crappy job. Montecristo is largely a very pure power album, but there’s just enough keyboard symphonicity (it’s a word if we want it to be a word) to give virtually every corner of the record the added bit of pomposity necessary to facilitate a story as epic as The Count de Monte Cristo. Vocalist Stefano Sbrignadello absolutely SOARS, the band ain’t afraid to step on the peddle, and there are loads and loads of great leads front to back. Great jorb, Great Master!

Style: Symphonic Power
Location: Italy
Sample: “The Left Hand Joke”
Label: Underground Symphony
Release date: September 21
Bandcamp: Great Master

18. Evermore – In Memorium

[Cover artwork: Christoph Peters]

I was pretty skeptical the first time this record floated across my desk, as I am always cautious when an album cover’s artwork makes me wonder if I’m about to dip into a soundtrack for a flimsy romance novel your dear ol’ gam-gam might’ve grabbed at the checkout counter of a grocery store circa 1990. Luckily, the second full-length from this Swedish three-piece, In Memoriam, is about as far away from a fourth-rate tale concerning ruttish seaside trysts as you can possibly get. On the contrary, and for the most part, EvermorƎ is in the business of RIFFS, and they prefer those riffs to be heavy, crunchy and catchy, which pairs nicely the band’s stripped down formula that also showcases brief symphonic elements and a satisfying allotment of fiery leads. I’ve seen some criticisms levied toward the vocals here, which… I dunno… I suppose might make sense if you require every power metal vocalist who operates at a higher register to sound like Daniel Heiman, but I find them perfectly suitable for In Memoriam’s overall combustibility.

Style: Aggressive Power
Location: Sweden
Sample: “Forevermore”
Label: Scarlet Records
Release date: April 21
Bandcamp: Evermore

17. Galneryus – Between Dread and Valor

[Cover artwork: Uncredited]

One of the more remarkable things concerning Japan’s long-running Galneryus: When they release an album that’s honestly not quite as routinely explosive as they’ve done time and time again in the past, fans will call that record “disappointing” and make you want to believe it ’s deserving of a score around 5/10. Definitely an occupational hazard when you’re one of power metal’s more consistently excellent and most powerfullest bands. Yes, I would agree that Between Dread and Valor isn’t quite on the same level as a mightily impressive stack of previous Galneryus releases, but it’s still a very rewarding listen, even if it’s a bit shocking to see them produce something that doesn’t manage to crack a top five.

2021’s excellent Union Gives Strength introduced fans to the strange and unchartered realm of “Galneryus pithiness,” and Between Dread and Valor certainly continues that trend. But what we’re not terribly accustomed to is having the word (*gulp*) “restraint” attached to the band’s work. Not quite ready for that? Maybe wait for the next Galnery-bus. However, a patient ear will find plenty to love here, even when songs like “Let Us Shine” sound inches away from being a rock radio hit from 1988. Admittedly, I could’ve done without the super soft closing.

Style: Neoclassical Power
Location: Japan
Sample: “Let Us Shine”
Label: Warner Music Japan
Release date: March 1
Band website: Galneryus

16. Theocracy – Mosaic

[Cover artwork: Steven W. Howard]

Witness the power of prayer! No, Beyoncé did not leave Jay-Z for me and invite my friends and I to have our weekly D&D gatherings on a 70 million dollar yacht. I’m talking about the notably loud prayers of the Christian power metal hordes that have finally delivered a brand new Theocracy album unto us all.

In truth, seven years isn’t really all that long to wait, but when we’re talking about a band as unique as Theocracy that makes a point of keeping that green ~ACTIVE~ light on amidst such a stretch, fans have a tendency to start scratching after about four years or so. Mercifully, Mosaic has indeed arrived, and with it comes all the card-carrying elements fans have come to love about the band. Like, literally all of them; take the first four records and ram them into a blender—BOOM! You’ve got yourself a tall, refreshing… Mogarita? Margasaic? Point being, Mosaic is a perfect blend of heavy, light, maudlin, angry, aggressive, calm, classic and modern, and everyone of course sounds as if they’ve spent the seven year gap continuing to hone their chops instead of just sitting around and plowing through Jim Bakker’s apocalyptic meal buckets. Really, the biggest shift for Theocracy circa 2023 is the addition of Taylor Washington (of the excellent Paladin) on lead guitar, and his extraordinarily melodic presence is definitely welcome in this Eden.

Style: Jesus Might Be a Headbanger Power
Location: USA
Sample: “Return to Dust”
Label: Atomic Fire
Release date: October 13
Bandcamp: Theocracy

15. Stray Gods – Olympus

[Cover artwork: Uwe Jarling]

There are currently two notable singers in our heavy sphere whose voices bare a striking resemblance to everyone’s favorite royal curmudgeon, Bruce Dickinson: Artur Almeida of Stray Gods (and Attick Demons), and Raphael Mendes of Icon of Sin. Now, I admit I stand in awe of those individuals whose talent is blessed enough to mimic our dearest icons, but generally speaking, if I want to hear Bruce Bruce, Halford, King Diamond, RJD, etc., I will simply turn to the bounteous treasures they’ve bestowed on us through the years, because more often than not the music that backs the parrots just doesn’t stack up.

Stray Gods, however, does one hell of a job of flipping that script by delivering something that, while clearly indebted to Iron Maiden (even beyond Almeida’s great voice), is filtered through a power lens that’s equal parts US and buoyant Euro, and it’s performed by individuals who really know how to shred on their respective wares. Literally everyone stands out on a record like Olympus, so expect to actually HEAR the wonderfully playful bass, and be prepared to grin ear-to-ear thanks to the vigorous drumming, snappy riffs, and all that beautiful melody. The result: By the time you’re halfway through the record, you will find yourself caring less and less about the Maidenisms and instead point your attention to just how joyous and heartening each and every song happens to be.

Style: Iron Maidened Power
Location: International
Sample: “Abel & Cain”
Label: Rock of Angels Records
Release date: June 23
Bandcamp: Stray Gods

14. Thunderforge – Vanquish the Sun

[Cover artwork: Uncredited]

Three years ago a band called Goldenhall stormed out of Rhode Island with a debut full-length shot from a cannon that totally blindsided me with its explosive epicness. This year a similar cannon shot has been delivered via their snuggly northerly neighbors, Massachusetts’ own Thunderforge.

Similar to Goldenhall’s epic debut, Vanquish the Sun wastes little time (following the requisite intro) in letting the listener know they’re about to suffer multiple hammer blows to the head. The band’s overall design centers around a fairly aggressive form of modern US power that’s swift, often aggressive, intensely melodic, and vaulted to the firmament by a barrel-chested vocalist who sounds like he’d probably show up to work on Monday morning still wearing Friday night’s toga.

What Thunderforge use to their advantage is spice, spice, baby. While the comprehensive design clearly opts for galloping aggression, the album offsets that blitz with quieter moments: the plaintive “Garden of Tears” and fully piano’d and lovely “Nightfall,” for example. There’s a lot of layers in the T-forge blueprint, essentially, and Vanquish the Sun does a hell of a job of buttoning it all up in a very powerful way that should appeal to fans of the aforementioned Goldenhall, as well as modern outfits such as Visigoth and Ravenous.

Style: Big Power Go Boom!
Location: USA
Sample: “Position of the Stars”
Label: Independent
Release date: July 7
Bandcamp: Thunderforge

13. Edu Falaschi – Eldorado

[Cover artwork: Carlos Barbosa]

Edu Falaschi’s name is on the kiosk, but holy moly do them fellers behind him that are responsible for everything other than vocals and grandpa’s guitars ever know how to make albums like Vera Cruz (2021) and Eldorado hit the back of the net. Put an extraordinarily unloaded gun to my head and I’d still confess the previous record’s highs manage to reach a little higher, but Eldorado prrrrretty much picks up where Vera Cruz left off when it comes to extremely tight, notably bright, exceptionally crisp progressive power with more than a few touches of grandiose symphonicity. Yes, you’ll have to have a fairly thick stomach lining in order to digest and enjoy the ballads, but at this point that’s about as predictable as an abortive power metal intro. I personally think Falaschi’s voice occasionally stretches a little too far into “overly nasally” territory at times these days, but it’s not actually overly distracting. Also, how in the Hell is this album not on a proper label?

Style: Progressive Power
Location: Brazil
Sample: “Tenochtitlán”
Label: Independent
Release date: August 23
Band website: Edu Falaschi

12. Born In Exile – Major Arcana

[Cover artwork: Katerina / Catok Art]

**SLIGHT BIG FAT CHEATER ALERT** I’m guessing this is the biggest cheat in the stack this year. That admission notwithstanding, I would also say this particular variety of cheat is of a lesser degree compared to some of the whoppers I’ve pushed in previous years, as Spain’s Born In Exile is the business of delivering a notably melodic form of progressive metal that falls at least somewhat in line with the Symphony X’s, Pagan’s Minds and Adagios of our sphere. I would, however, confess that Major Arcana straddles the line with a heavier emphasis on the progressive side of things. That being said, this album is absolutely worthy of a spotlight here because: 1) Vocalist Kris Vega is an absolute powerhouse who balances a wonderfully delicate elegance in the album’s quieter moments with the perfect amount of POW when things get more intense, and 2) the band that backs her is supremely talented, with loads of sophistication in the driftier bits being suitably offset by the crew’s predilection for an exceptionally melodic form of aggressive and highly adventurous prog. Basically, if you count yourself a fairly daring fan progressive power, you’d be a grade-A chump for allowing a record like Major Arcana to slip through the cracks.

Style: Progressive Power (with a cheat code)
Location: Spain
Sample: “nooM ehT IIIVX”
Label: Independent
Release date: September 22
Band website: Born In Exile

11. Crom – The Era of Darkness

[Cover artwork: Kris Verwimp]

If there is a roadblock to be had regarding The Era of Darkness, it deals with the fact that the record stretches to an hour playing time. Of course that’s really nothing new in this day and age, but as the attention span of the typical human being continues to shrink in direct proportion to the aggressive increase in the amount of 60-second tiktok / reel distractions in our lives, this sort of thing does not work in Crom’s favor. My sage advice to you, if you choose to accept it, is to take your bloody time with this record, as I actually think it gets stronger as it slowly unfolds. “Bridge to Paradise,” for example, is a wonderfully warm and triumphant BEAST of a song that drops deep in the second half. Yes, your enjoyment largely banks on whether or not (Viking-era) Bathory colliding with a more power-directed form of Turisas sounds like something that would blow your hair back, but if you’re visiting this list and that DOESN’T sound good, maybe you should get that big ol’ melon of yours examined by a professional. Tons of texture here, plenty of varied pacing, and a notably toothsome form of sometimes sullen, often epic melody governs the overall footprint.

Style: Epic Power that laughs at your four winds
Location: Germany
Sample: “Bridge to Paradise”
Label: From the Vaults
Release date: January 13
Bandcamp: Crom

10. Saint Deamon – League of the Serpent

[Cover artwork: Thomas Holmstrand]

Here’s a little something my Last Rites power cohort Chris C. had to say in his review of League of the Serpent:

“Undoubtedly, a highlight inextricable from the Saint Deamon sound is [vocalist] Jan Thore Grefstad, who has a keen ability to ride the riffs here, regardless of how light or crunchy they may be at any given time. The vocal control this guy exercises is impressive. There is a distinct quality to his voice that sounds both remarkably graceful and authoritative.”

Boom, nailed it. I might even go so far as to say Grefstad’s performance on League of the Serpent is the second best of the year, directly behind you-know-who on you-know-what. His voice is a huge draw for Saint Deamon, and it’s a massive part of what makes this record so ridiculously infectious. However, what pushes League of the Serpent over the top and onto a list such as this is the band’s ability to throw such effective curveballs, as evidenced by the fact that my favorite songs might actually be the ones that scared me the most during initial encounters. The notably radio-rocked “A Lie to Be Undone” (soooo golden), for example. Plus, the equally infectious “Lost in Your Sin,” which kicks off with some weird jump-the-fuck-uppery mixed with bits of… westernness? How in the hell can that possibly work?! The rest of the record is equally as enjoyable, mind you—in a much more straightforward Euro power sort of way—but I very much appreciate how these guys manage to make most any form of their overall approach sound like a huge victory.

Style: Pure Power
Location: Sweden
Sample: “Load Your Cannons”
Label: AFM Records
Release date: April 21
Band website: Saint Deamon

9. Ashrain – Requiem Reloaded

[Cover artwork: Uncredited]

Not that I put too much stock into failing websites like Facebook in 2023, but the fact that Ashrain has only managed to capture 273 followers there since releasing their debut back in April leads me to believe people… simply don’t have a clue they exist. Sure, there are approximately 4 million bands out there battling for our attention, but Ashrain counts the following heroes in their ranks: UDO’s bassist Peter Baltes, who also played with Accept amidst their most classic run throughout the ‘80s and into the ‘90s; Andy C. Martínez on drums, who currently plays for Ronnie Romero and once drummed with brutal tech death lords Wormed (say whaaaaaaat?); Eternity’s End, Majustice and ex-Hibria (Defying the Rules) vocalist Iuri Sanson behind the mic; and directly inside the true vortex of the band, Nozomu Wakai of Sigh and Destinia providing piles and piles of guitar sorcery. An explosive lineup, for certain, but one of the things I quite appreciate about Requiem Reloaded is how the record manages to showcase each of the players’ talents with a perhaps surprising amount of restraint. Don’t get me wrong, the whole crew brings it, but each and every one of these songs delivers a wonderfully pure, straightforward form of power that underscores HOOK above all else.

Style: Really Should Be More Popular Pure Power
Location: International
Sample: “Pull On the Trigger”
Label: Independent
Release date: April 14
Band website: Ashrain

8. Excalion – Once Upon a Time

[Cover artwork: Piotr Szafraniec]

For the sixth year in a row, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network has ranked Finland as “the happiest nation in the world.” Despite never having the pleasure of setting foot on Finnish soil, I can’t help but wonder if a better choice of words would be “most content,” as I have never come across a sober Finn who’s even come close to high-fiving me as a greeting. Still, they’re a far cry from, say, the mighty and melancholy Belgians, but I’m pretty sure Disney Land in Finland would still play Horna as people cruise around the walkways. Hell, even Finnish power metal generally opts to sidestep the typical “joyous bounce” of the Euro strain, which is precisely the sort of thing that makes a band like Excalion such a great choice for those who count themselves… cautious when it comes to power metal’s penchant for essentially forcing listeners to turn their frowns upside down. Moreover, a record like Once Upon a Time is an ideal representation of pure power metal sans any level of gimmickry this delightfully crackers metal off-shoot typically looooves throwing into listeners’ faces. No goofy outfits, no dorky pseudonyms, no 8-bit solos, no dips into pop, death or black metal—just pure power that’s dramatic without being overly schmaltzy, and melodic as the day is long. Of course this ain’t exactly breaking news for anyone already familiar with Excalion, as all their albums manage to hit the target dead on or around the center in a very similar manner, but album number six finds the Finns in particularly excellent form. NO SMILES, but we are indeed very happy.

Style: Pure Power
Location: Finland
Sample: “Soulbound”
Label: Scarlet Records
Release date: March 24
Bandcamp: Galderia

7. Triumpher – Storming the Walls

 [Cover artwork: Antonis Vailas / Mars Triumph / Tomb Arts]

If you prefer your power built on a steely USPM foundation similar to what Manowar established decades ago, particularly the extraordinary strength of a record like Kings of Metal and facets of The Triumph of Steel, you simply will not do yourself a greater favor in 2023 than picking up Triumpher’s stunning debut, Storming the Walls. Here’s what my LR chum Danhammer had to say about the album in his review earlier this year:

“Formed in Athens, Greece, by vocalist and bassist Antonis Vailas (aka Mars Triumph) in 2019, Storming the Walls is Triumpher’s first release of any kind, which makes its staggering level of quality even more unbelievable. No demo, no EP, no ‘pretty good’ first album that shows future promise, just POW! and straight into the stratosphere.”

The record absolutely did drop out of seemingly nowhere, which definitely adds to the fun, but even more impressive is the way Antonis Vailas manages to fold in more extreme elements and varied Bathory-isms without ever fully losing sight of the original USPM crux. Storming the Walls is wonderfully dark, epic, expansive, melodic, chewy and of course powerful, and holy hell does it ever gain more and more momentum as the album winningly gallops along.

Style: ManopoweR
Location: Greece
Sample: “The Thunderer”
Label: Independent / Floga Records
Release date: March 8
Bandcamp: Triumpher

6. Angra – Cycles of Pain

[Cover Artwork: Erick Pasqua]

Is it fair to say long-time Angra fans are the most critical of the band’s current Lione years? Personally, I happen to spread an abundance of love across all Angra eras, with my all-time favorite recording landing with the Falaschi-fronted Temple of Shadows. But I also loved 2018’s Ømni, so news of its follow-up (and initial venture with Atomic Fire Records) certainly inspired yours truly to bounce off the walls like an overly excited blockhead.

If you also found yourself happily basking in the warmth of Ømni’s potent light, it stands to reason that full-length number ten, Cycles of Pain, will fall similarly in your favor. There is a difference, though, and that difference is mostly centered on the fact that Cycles of Pain manages the goods with a moderately lighter footprint, despite coming out of the gates with the stormy one-two punch of “Ride Into the Storm” and “Dead Man On Display.” Once we hit track four, though, things get… well, maybe “gentle” takes things a little too far? Just know it favors calmer seas with a stronger emphasis placed on melodic, equable sailing. But if you’ve come to love Bittencourt’s easily recognizable fretwork and also enjoy getting lost in Lione’s dulcet voice, the formula works beautifully. Sure, we love it when Angra strikes with the sort of BIG ruckus a song like “War Horns” delivers, but sometimes you just gotta MELLOW OUT, MANNNNN.

Style: Progressive Power
Location: Brazil
Sample: “Tide of Changes”
Label: Atomic Fire Records
Release date: November 3
Band website: Angra

5. Anthem – Crimson & Jet Black

[Cover artwork: Kenichi Suzuki]

I’ve had my eyes and ears pinned on the Japanese metal scene from the very first time I discovered Thunder in the East back in the mid ‘80s. The years that followed featured moderately rare used cassette finds from the likes of Dead End, E-Z-O, X-Japan and Genocide, but I sadly never came across Anthem until much later—eventually stumbling across a used LP copy of the band’s debut in, of all places, a new & used bookstore. That was it, though; I never came across another Anthem release out in the wild.

Now, say what you will concerning the flaws of most every streaming service, that realm has absolutely opened the floodgates for exploring (and in this case, catching up with) hard to track down artists, which eventually lead to my discovery that Anthem has spent a great many years being one of the more consistent bands in metal. With their TWENTIETH full-length Crimson & Jet Black, however, Anthem has mined 52 minutes of precious ore that should not be missed. Yes, the record strides the line with pure heavy metal, but there are enough elements of both USPM and its Euro cousin in the modern era of the band to gain entry to WHTP.

HIGH ENERGY is the primary objective here, and I will state with utmost conviction that inside a realm populated by old-school rockers in their 50s and 60s still cranking out albums, you will not find a more electrifying release to top Crimson & Jet Black. The whole band hits at 110% from top to bottom, but vocalist Yukio Morikawa and guitarist Akio Shimizu are particularly potent, stacking endless hooks and molten leads to the absolute tippy-top of the highest rafters. The very best news, though? Anthem has recently been announced as headliners for next year’s Mad With Power fest in Madison, Wisconsin. See you there?

Style: Heavy / Power
Location: Japan
Sample: “Blood Brothers”
Label: Ward Records
Release date: April 21
Band website: Anthem

4. Lovebites – Judgement Day

[Cover artwork: Carlos Vincente León and David Mallo]

No other band in power metal is more relentless with explosive victories right now than Japan’s Lovebites. Sure, this is only the band’s fourth full-length, but these five heroes deliver such a ludicrous amount of virtuosic energy across each of their releases that I’m actually a little surprised they haven’t literally detonated whilst forging their incendiary brand of intense power metal. I guess one could dock them a couple points for not really experimenting very much with their formula over the years, but that’s only if you happen to be a complete ramrod who purposely dodges FUN. Otherwise, why would anyone of sound mind and a fondness of power ever turn their nose up at Judgement Day, a record that packs so much force across its 53 minutes that it could easily challenge the Large Hadron Collider in a head-to-head battle for megawatt supremacy. If you’re not ready to crush the day at the behest of an endless amount of Lovebitten riffs, destructive leads, sirenic wails, big swingin’ hooks, and a level of combustible strength that should likely require some form of warning sticker slapped on the packaging, do not entry here, ye false lord.

Style: EXPLOSIVE Power
Location: Japan
Sample: “Stand and Deliver (Shoot ‘Em Down)”
Label: Victor
Release date: February 22
Band website: Lovebites

3. Frozen Crown – Call of the North

[Cover artwork: Federico Mondelli]

I’m really not one to get overly concerned or finicky about the more ridiculous face of power metal, but I do appreciate it when bands sidestep their local theater’s Peter Pan wardrobe loft for promo pics, stage wear, and overall aesthetic fodder. Then again, we are a dramatic people, we power metallers, and most anything that adds to the escape is pretty much fair game in our realm. That being said, few would argue that there appears to be a shortage of power metal bands that just, you know, let the actual power metal do all the talking, which is precisely what Italy’s Frozen Crown has done prrrrrretty much since their inception and continues to do this year with their fourth full-length.

Need a swift kick in the hams today? Throw Call of the North on and totally whoop any and all obstacles to the dirt for the entire 53-minute ride. Holy hell, these guys LOVE riffs, they LOVE lightning leads, they LOVE galloping at full speed, and they LOVE fueling your heart with the energy of 100 suns. I would say referring to them as Italy’s cousins to Unleash the Archers is a fairly accurate comparison, but where them Canadians have clearly opted to incorporate pop elements, Frozen Crown continues to barrel through all walls with unadulterated P.O.W.E.R.

Might Call of the North stand as the band’s best to date? Signs point very powerfully to YES.

Style: Aggressive Power
Location: Italy
Sample: “Fire in the Sky”
Label: Scarlet Records
Release date: March 10
Bandcamp: Frozen Crown

2. Twilight Force – At the Heart of Wintervale

[Cover artwork: Kerem Beyit]

I already wrote quite a few words concerning the two top spots in this year’s festivities, including a song-by-song account of this, the long-awaited fourth full-length from Sweden’s lords of LARP, Twilight Force. I could kick around a bunch of new words right here and now, but the following snippet from that write-up way back in January still manages to do the trick in terms of summarizing what I consider to be the key strengths behind At the Heart of Wintervale:

“No one expects Twilight Force to break a four year silence with something that sounds like a lost Type O Negative record. You pay the price of admission because you’re fairly sure what to expect: buoyant, charged, epic symphonic power metal that’s as chained to clichéd dragon / wizard / warrior elements as one could possibly get without being held captive in a pit below George R.R. Martin’s palatial estate. Despite Twilight Force’s unyielding trajectory, however, they still really know how to deliver the goods, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the years since 2019’s Dawn of the Dragonstar weren’t exactly spent twiddling thumbs and binging Judge Judy with every inch of their free time. Twilight Force really enjoys doing what they do best (thank goodness), and with At the Heart of Wintervale, they’ve found a surprisingly succinct and powerful way to do it better than 97% of the doppelgängers attempting a similar feat.”

Beyond that, and with the added benefit of an additional ten months of assimilation, I would go one step further and remark that one of the single greatest advantages behind At the Heart of Wintervale is rooted in the fact that the bombastic music at its crux encapsulates its explosive cover artwork perfectly. What more could a fan of extremely pure and virtuous power ever hope to encounter?

Style: Symphonic LARPower
Location: Sweden
Sample: “Sunlight Knight”
Label: Atomic Fire Records
Release date: January 20
Bandcamp: Twilight Force

1. Sacred Outcry – Towers of Gold

[Cover artwork: George Apalodimas]

Shortly after Towers of Gold dropped, the album quickly heaped five 100% reviews in a row via everyone’s favorite permanently open browser tab, Metal “Encyclopaedia Metallum” Archives. I, too, gave the album very high marks in a write-up back in early May, and if I had to don my instructor’s robe and attach a percentage to the record now seven months later, I think I’d probably give it a very virtuous 95%, plus a snazzy Gandalf sticker to make the album even more worthy of landing on the front of every fridge. It would be hilarious if you found some way to interpret a 95% score as an insult, as I assure you that is not at all my intention. Point being—and perhaps you’ll just have to trust me that this is good news—whilst Towers of Gold clearly stands at the top of the heap as a tremendous and wondrous album, there’s still wiggle room for advancement, and given the fact that Sacred Outcry is only getting started, I think that’s pretty exciting.

Does it seem like I just whizzed in everyone’s double matcha caramel mocha bubble tea? If so, here’s a couple tastes of the praise I hurled at this great album seven months ago:

“Heiman has long been celebrated for his remarkable 6 octave range and insanely acrobatic high notes, but there’s an unmistakable soulful sadness in his delivery as well, and that’s very well suited for Sacred Outcry’s brand of dark power metal and the emotional narrative at the heart of this release. So, while it remains to be seen if anyone ever (strong emphasis on that word) manages to pull off the vocal stunt-flying Heiman achieved 20-plus years ago through Lost Horizon, the stormy temperament and melodic sophistication heard throughout Towers of Gold carries his voice to new heights.”

And…

“Warlord continues to be a principal guiding star here, as Towers of Gold is similarly focused on a more… unhurried stride that underscores fluid melody and soaring vocals. The midpoint of the record emphasizes this face of the band most candidly, with “Symphony of the Night,” the brief and elegant “A Midnight Reverie,” and “The Sweet Wine of Betrayal” all accenting the way an incomparable record such as Deliver Us gradually dips and sways between mellowness and heaviness without ever losing sight of a notably poignant melody and lifting solo. Bill Tsamis always had a film score composer’s mindset when it came to his songwriting, and [George] Apalodimas certainly follows suit, adding just the right amount of stormy orchestration to the corners to give Towers of Gold an added edge of drama that damn-near borders on something as darkly triumphant as classic Emperor.”

Okay, back to the opening point. Complicating matters further—and something I’ve spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out how to explain without coming across as a totally pedantic wanker—is the fact that I’d be comfortable throwing Towers of Gold a pure 10 on a scale of 1-10, because that smaller scale accounts for fewer details compared to a percentage option. King Diamond’s Abigail? The rarest of rare albums that gets a 10/10 AND a clean 100%. Powerslave? A 10/10 record with a 97% total score, thanks to “Back in the Village.” I know, I know, I’m even starting annoying myself. Bottom line: Towers of Gold is a wonderful 10/10 album that scores around a 95% because there’s still room for advancement in the details. And if there’s any band with the power to push things to that next level, I put my trust in the current interpretation of Sacred Outcry. In other words, please-please stay, Daniel Heiman.

That being said, I am extremely pleased to witness Towers of Gold being spoken of in such high regard throughout the underground as a totally perfect power metal record, because that means above all else the work has achieved three crucial goals: 1) It makes people really excited, 2) It makes people really happy, and 3) It connects with listeners on a visceral and very emotional level. That, my friends, is the reason why the record stands as the clear winner for the top spot in this year’s edition of WHTP, and that’s the sort of thing that eclipses any sort of score. Towers of Gold connected, lifted and soared harder, higher and further than any other power or power-related release in 2023, and the fact that the band has the potential to become even better in the future adds the perfect amount of extra thrill to the ultimate Sacred Outcry equation.

Style: 100% Power
Location: Greece
Sample: “The Voyage”
Label: No Remorse Records
Release date: May 19
Bandcamp: Sacred Outcry

———

«»

2023’s Full List of 210 Competitors (Bandcamp links provided where applicable):

Ad Infinitum – Chapter III – Downfall
Adrian Benegas – Arcanvm – El mantra secreto de los espíritus
Against Myself – Tides of Insanity
Alicetopia – In Dreams
All for Metal – Legends
Allegiance Reign – Way of the Warrior EP
Amusie – Heavy Metal Doctors
Ancient Trail – The Ancient Force
Angra – Cycles of Pain
Angus McSix – Angus McSix and the Sword of Power
Anthem – Crimson & Jet Black
Anubis Gate – Interference
Apostolica – Animae Haeretica
Arcana Opera – L’orizzonte degli eventi
Archon Angel – II
Arendel – Sin Aliento
Ark Royal – Clymenus
Ars Nova – Abrazando las sombras
Art Nation – Inception
Ascension – Under the Veil of Madness
Ashrain – Requiem Reloaded
Asylum Pyre – Call Me Inhuman – The Sun – The Fight – Part 5
Avalanch – El dilema de los dioses
Avaland – The Legend of the Storyteller
Axenstar – Chapter VIII
Battle Born – Blood, Fire, Magic and Steel
Beyond the Black – Beyond the Black
Black & Damned – Servants of the Devil
Bloodbound – Tales from the North
Born in Exile – Major Arcana
Burning Sun – Wake of Ashes
Burning Witches – The Dark Tower
By Fire & Sword – Glory
Carpe Diem – In Nomine Honoris
Category VI – Firecry
Cathalepsy – Blood and Steel
Chamelion – Legends & Lores
Chaos Control – The Legacy Within
Chris Boltendahl’s Steelhammer – Reborn in Flames
Crom – The Era of Darkness
Crowne – Operation Phoenix
Daeria – Morfeo
Dark Legion – Hermetica Draconis
Dark Sarah – Attack of Orym
Dark Shadow – Chapter One
Darklon – The Redeemer
Delain – Dark Waters
Derdian – New Era Part IV – Resurgence
Dispyria – The Story of Marion Dust
Diviner – Avaton
Don’t Drop the Sword – Age of Heroes
Draconicon – Pestilence
Dragón de Piedra – Herederos del pecado
Dragonheart – The Dragonheart’s Tale
Dreamyth – Aletheia
Dyecrest – Once I Had a Heart
Dying Phoenix – Winter is Coming
Edu Falaschi – Eldorado
Elvenking – Reader of the Runes – Rapture
Elvenpath – Faith Through the Fire
Emerald Rage – Valkyrie
Enemy of Reality – Where Truth May Lie
Eternal Voyager – Darkened Times
Everdawn – Venera
Eunomia – The Chronicles of Eunomia Part II
Eufory – Fifth Dimension
Evermore – In Memorium
Excalion – Once Upon a Time
Fairytale – Army of Ghosts
Fifth Angel – When Angels Kill
Flidais – Pathogen
Forever Storm – Од пепела до вечности
Fortress Under Siege – Envy
Fraise – The Fifth Sun, Pt. II
Frozen Crown – Call of the North
Frozen Land – Out of the Dark
Full Messenger – Eternal Until It’s Over
Galneryus – Between Dread and Valor
Garrett Campbell – Skies of Dragonlight
Gasnet Svet – Symphonia Vitiorum
Gladiator – Genesis EP
Gloryhammer – Return to the Kingdom of Fife
Great Master – Montecristo
Haunted Gods – Haunted Gods
Heaven’s Guardian – Chronos
Heimdall – Hephaestus
Hollentor – Divergency
Honor Bound – Heart of a Warrior EP
Hydra – Láncra verve
Ignited – Cradle of the Wicked
Ignition – Vengeance
Immortal Guardian – Unite and Conquer
Immortalizer – Born for Metal
Induction – The Power of Power EP
Iron Savior – Firestar
Jag Panzer – The Hallowed
Kamelot – The Awakening
Kardinal Sin – S.A.L.I.G.I.A.
Knights of Blood – El Juicio de Osiris
Kondzik – Heroes of the Past
Lancer – Tempest
Legado de una Tragedia – Aquelarre de sombras
Lovebites – Judgement Day
Magnus Karlsson’s Free Fall – Hunt the Flame
Majestic Ryte – Majestic Ryte
Majesty – Back to Attack
Majustice – Ancestral Recall
Marauder – Metal Constructions VII
Marcel Verand Memorias de un Despertar – Reclama tu libertad
Marco Garau’s Magic Opera – Battle of Ice
Mari Hamada – Soar
Mesopotamia – Between Two Worlds
Metalmind – Without Return
Mistyfica – Century Tales
Moravius – Moravian Bravery
Mystfall – Celestial Vision
Mystic Prophecy – Hellriot
Nacarbide – The Identity of Discord
Nanowar of Steel – Dislike to False Metal
Narnia – Ghost Town
Neobabel – Survival Strategy
Night Legion – Fight or Fall
Norwald – The Spark of Freedom EP
Nova Skellis – Life Amongst the Damned
Noveria – The Gates of the Underworld
Octavus Lupus – Octavus Lupus
Odinfist – Remade in Steel
Opera Magna – Of Love and Other Demons
Owlbear – Chaos to the Realm
Palantír – Nightmare Opus EP
Percival – The Seventh Seal
Phoebus the Knight – The Cursed Lord EP
Phoebus the Knight – Ferrum Fero Ferro Feror
Powerstorm – Act II
Prime Creation – Tell Freedom I Said Hello
Project: Roenwolfe – Project: Roenwolfe
Prydain – The Gates of Aramore
Psychework – Spark of Hope
Pyramaze – Bloodlines
Ravenlight – Immemorial
Reasons Behind – Architecture of an Ego
Reino de Hades – Siete runas
Reveal – Still Alive
Revoltons – Celestial Violence
Rexoria – Imperial Dawn
Rhegia – The Battle of Deliverance
Rigorious – Night of Retribution
Rosslyn – Totentanz
Ruinthrone – The Unconscious Mind of Arda
Sacred Outcry – Towers of Gold
Sacro – The End
Saint Deamon – League of the Serpent
Savage Blood – Wheel of Time
ScreaMachine – Church of the Scream
Sculforge – Intergalactic Battle Tunes…
Secret Sphere – Blackened Heartbeat
Sélidor – Ecos del abismo
Serenity – Nemesis AD
Severed Angel – Severed Angel
Sex Machineguns – 地獄の暴走列車
ShadowStrike – Traveler’s Tales
Signum Regis – Undivided
Silverbones – Brethren of the Coast
Silver Bullet – Shadowfall
Sinheresy – Event Horizon
Skiltron – Bruadarach
Skyblazer – Infinity’s Wings
Steelrath – Prayers of War
Stormage – Ashes of Doom
Stray Gods – Olympus
Tetsuya Mitani – Anamorphosis
The Giant Void – Abyssal
The Lightbringer of Sweden – The New World Order
The Privateer – Kingdom of Exiles
The Silent Rage – Nuances of Life
The Spruce Moose – Pyramid Scheme
The Unity – The Hellish Joyride
Theocracy – Mosaic
Thomas Carlsen’s Transmission – A Brave Horizon
Thorium – Extraordinary Journeys Pt. I
Thriller – Street Metal
Thunderforge – Vanquish the Sun
Thunderspell – Thunderwarriors
Tombstone – Angel of Blood
Tower Hill – Deathstalker
Tragedian – Master of Illusions
Trayax – On the Edge of Madness
Triumpher – Storming the Walls
Twilight Force – At the Heart of Wintervale
Valentino Francavilla – Midnight Dreams
Vanish – A Hint of Solace
Velvet Viper – Nothing Compares to Metal
Vengeant – Mana EP
Victor Smolski – Guitar Force
Virgin Steele – The Passion of Dionysus
Vision Denied – Age of the Machine
Vision of Choice – Second Sight
Vocifer – Jurupary
Walk with Titans – Olympian Dystopia
WarWolf – The Apocalyptic Waltz
War Dance – Sons of Thunder
Wichita Falls – When Hell Comes to Town
Winterage – Nekyia
Winterstorm – Everfrost
Withering Scorn – Prophets of Demise
Wonders – Beyond the Mirage
Xandria – The Wonders Still Awaiting
Zeke Deux – Vampire Tale EP
Вейя – Разнотравье EP
Одиссея – Эра героев

«»

The post We Have The Power – The Top 25 Power And Power-Related Albums Of 2023 appeared first on Last Rites.

Universe A: I am a salmon, hurrying desperately upstream to my spawning grounds. You are a grizzly bear, and as you chomp down on my slippery flesh, I squeak, “Recommended for fans of Anorexia Nervosa’s Redemption Process!”

Universe B: You are a construction worker toiling in the noontime heat on the interstate. I am a sentient billboard, mostly content to flex my “Fines doubled in work zone” muscles, but when you glance up at me I am careful to share my secret message: “Remember how awesome Dimmu Borgir’s Death Cult Armageddon is?”

Universe C: We are both hydrogen atoms in the sun’s core. Just before being converted to helium, I nudge you conspiratorially and whisper, “So, whole lotta early Ihsahn solo materials in this Deathcode Society, eh?”

Universe D: I am waiting to go through airport security. You are an X-ray detector. I have strategically arranged a large handful of miniature metal thumbtacks on a piece of cardboard in my backpack that spells out, “Psst, do you remember Seth’s La Morsure du Christ?” I am immediately tackled by a German shepherd. (Not a dog. An actual shepherd from Germany. This universe is weird.)

Universe E: I am your Discogs wantlist. You are my bank account. There is no intrinsic connection between the two of us but I send an electronic spark bouncing off the satellites that gives you a sudden craving to drink deep the entire catalog of Belgium’s Enthroned.

Universe F: You are Imelda Marcos. I am a pair of expensive shoes that do not quite fit. Just before you throw me out the window I tap out a hasty Morse code message that reads, “I wonder if these Frenchmen are fans of Keep of Kalessin.”

(Hugo Award Committee, I humbly await your call.)

In this universe, I suppose I ought to tell you that Unlightenment, the second album from France’s Deathcode Society, is a ferocious and intricate bit of symphonic black metal. There is a nearly omnipresent current of orchestration, but it is so well balanced with the sharp edges of the guitars and the gleeful puttering of the bass that no element ever overpowers the other. The album’s opening track “Scolopendra” storms in with exactly the kind of sweeping, tempestuous, yet meticulously clear riffing and blasting that defines the album as a whole. The guitars (courtesy of dual axemen David and Michael) snake around in a dive-bombing 6/8 time with subtle keys shadowing their melody, while vocalist and principal songwriter Arnhwald snarls and sneers his way through a powerhouse performance.

Even at a relatively hefty 52 minutes, Unlightenment never really drags, in large part due to smart little songwriting flourishes that mix things up. “Scales” is one of the most notable examples, opening up with a section of a capella chanting vocals that, especially when reprised with the rippling chug of the guitars towards the song’s end, gives it a ritualistic feeling similar to late-period Rotting Christ. Elsewhere, the snaky guitar harmonics in the verses of “Mazed Interior” really dial up the Ihsahn vibes (circa Adversary/angL). The ten-minute “A La Neante” covers a lot of stylistic ground, from sparse atmospherics to jutting, jet-black progressive weirdness and back again to light-speed blasting. In and around all of these movements you might also hear echoes of Limbonic Art, 1349, Arcturus, or Imperium Dekadenz, but most of all you will hear a confident, professional band making aggressive, devastatingly sleek metal that is just a whole lot of fun.

From where I stand, the future is unwritten. Some of the more pessimistic of the speculative fiction writers out there might disagree, but to them I say: each of us is now perched on the precipice of two fractionally different universes – one in which we open our ears to Deathcode Society’s rambunctiously excellent Unlightenment, and one in which we wander in glum, perpetual lameness.

The post Deathcode Society – Unlightenment Review appeared first on Last Rites.

As some of you may know, I spent the better part of the entire summer listening to little else than power metal in preparation for The Top Power Metal Albums of All Time enterprise that ran here at Last Rites from around the end of May through August. That whole endeavor was a labor of love—over 30,000 words worth—but it came with an understanding that shifting back into the more extreme side of things would likely prove…a bit challenging. Not an unpleasant challenge, mind you, but one that would perhaps feel a little choppy at first, given the stark contrast between our most uplifting and golden realm compared to its antithesis that so willingly and voraciously delivers all the characteristic brutality, darkness and hurtling intensity one could ever hope to experience. Funny how we actively seek out such things.

Somewhere amidst all the very serious power metaling, though, I opted to wander a bit into the genre’s outskirts to take in some of the relatively uncommon extreme acts that have opted to incorporate power metal into their schematics, whether it be welded to death metal, “Viking” metal, doom, black metal, etc. Not really the super well known stuff such as Bal-Sagoth, Wintersun, Children of Bodom or Amon Amarth, mind you, but deeper into the Earth’s crust to find the hidden gems, with an exceptionally prolonged visit / reacquaintance with a fairly overlooked gem from 2006, Pegasus’ The Epic Quest. If the album remains unfamiliar to you, just know that such an oversight should be fixed sooner rather than later, as The Epic Quest absolutely rips, and it’s a model example of how to fuse black metal with a notably epic form of power. Not the easiest thing to track down if you prefer a physical copy, but it’s available on most streaming platforms, with Apple merrily listing it as, um, Theic Quest. [sigh]

So, what is it exactly that makes black metal and power metal such uncommon but viable bedfellows, one of you may ask? Well, we’ve all heard the adage “opposites attract” for the majority of our lives, and while it certainly doesn’t always work out in the most magnificent way imaginable, when that proper balance is struck and the two contrasts begin waltzing seamlessly, a paragon yin-yang effect can occur. Dark and light swoosh and swirl together, with the shadowiness and ferocity of black metal whipping in unison with power’s penchant for melodic hooks and fantastical narratives. They don’t really need to fully blend, mind you, just exist in the same space to generate a very unique form of energy inside that optimum balance. Easy, yes? Okay, not at all easy, as favorable renderings remain fairly rare, and those bands that opt to take the gamble risk alienating fans on one end of the spectrum or the other.

“Wait, Moonlight Sorcery? Aren’t they just… like, a melodic black metal band?”

WHO SAID THAT. WHO ASKED ME THAT QUESTION. ASK THAT TO MY FACE, YOU COWARD.

Whoop, my bad! It was just my subconscious. My unruly, meddlesome subconscious.

Probably a good time to mention the following: You may not hear power metal when you listen to Moonlight Sorcery, especially if you’re not particularly familiar with power metal’s characteristic antics. For those dear souls, Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle will likely sound like… Well, yeah, an excessively melodic black metal album with a fantastical / otherworldly narrative. And it is, in fact, precisely that. Plus, apart from a few well-placed “shadowy spoken word” passages, you will find ZERO clean vocals on the record, no superfluous interludes crammed with grandpa’s guitars and / or choirs, and ultimately not a lot evidence to leave you wondering if you just encountered Keeper of the Horned Lord’s Spare Set of Thorned Castle Keys Part I. So, no, you needn’t be a power metal freak in order to fall head over heels for this record. But holy Hell, if you DO love you some power—and I very much hope you do—there will certainly be multiple moments throughout Horned Lord where the only thing that seems to be missing is Fabio Lione approaching the mic with an ornate saber pointed in your direction. Listen to a song like “The Secret of Streaming Blood” for a bit of validation.

The song breaks from the gate with a great little riff that does a great job of building momentum, and all that’s really missing is a sudden “oooOOOOO-YEEE-AAAAAAWWW!” power scream after the moment’s pause before the heart of the cut takes over after about 30 seconds. Instead, we’re treated to a gnarled howl from a troll lurking beneath a rotted tree. Hey, both angles are victories, as far as I’m concerned, but Moonlight Sorcery opts for a classic black metal route as the song scoots into a wonderfully icy stretch that’s periodically broken by hints of melodic power woven into the fretwork. And that’s really the gist: It’s the melodic play of Loitsumestari Taikakallo that truly lends the power element to Horned Lord’s overall sound, and it fully manifests on “The Secret of Streaming Blood” when a hugely epic lead around the 4:45 mark sends the close of the cut sooooaaaaring. Sure, melodic leads by themselves do not necessarily equate to power metal, but Taikakallo’s style is certainly rooted in a classic form of the style, and that’s best represented by the most power-brewed song on the album, the magnificently catchy and intensely impish instrumental, “The Moonlit Dance of the Twisted Jester’s Blood-soaked Rituals.” This little jammer sets off all sorts of classic Stratovarius circa 1997 alarms, if Stratovarius circa 1997 was a little eeeeeeeeevil.

Probably a good time to mention the following: Loitsumestari Taikakallo is responsible for writing all of Moonlight Sorcery’s music, and he has freely admitted that he doesn’t spend a lot of time listening to black metal (Metal-Rules interview, 2022). Does that doom Moonlight Sorcery in the eyes of all the elite black metal werewolves, underlords and goblins roaming the groves, heaths and Gamestops? Fuck if I know. Maybe? It doesn’t really matter. Though I’m fairly certain anyone born in Finland post 1990 has some form of black metal imprinted on their DNA, and anyone who’s paid attention to Moonlight Sorcery prior to this full-length is well aware that the band knows how to black metal. Taikakallo’s counterparts—vocalist Ruttomieli and rhythm guitarist Haaska—are well versed in the style, and there’s plenty of icy darkness framing the yin side of the equation here, giving Horned Lord an adventurous “Moonsorrow sans folk” footprint. “Yönsilmä,” for example—it drifts from the gate like some lost Bloc metal demo from ’95 before jumping into a much more bracing form of cold. It’s still melodic as the day is long, of course, but it never fully lets go of that comforting melancholic edge.

Again, finding a way to strike a proper balance between light and dark / warmth and coldness is key here, and Moonlight Sorcery not only knows how to walk both realms equally, they do heelflips, nosegrinds and bomb drops in them. They own balancing multiple worlds, and the results are as uniquely gratifying as they could be bewildering for those who demand a more conservative approach to their favorite branches of metal.

Just in case it’s not imminently clear, you will be filing Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle under black metal, even if you happen to be one of those stiff cemetery devils who thinks the genre went soft the moment more than two colors were added to album covers. However, I do believe the album will be enjoyed to the umpteenth degree by those who don’t cower in the glorious presence of power metal. So if you happen to be one of those conquering heroes who doesn’t blink an eye when Sargeist and Stratovarius get played back-to-back, be sure to step to the front of the line; these fellows are about to drop one of your favorite albums of 2023.

And… And!… AND!!!…

If you can’t get enough of Matti “Loitsumestari Taikakallo” Meri-Huhti’s melodiousness, be sure to check out his empowered melodic death metal album from 2023: Vansidian’s Reflecting the Shadows.

The post Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord Of The Thorned Castle Review appeared first on Last Rites.