So I jumped at the opportunity to review their debut album, ‘The Forgotten King’. Describing themselves as Blood Metal, they mix a few various sub genres of metal in the form of death, black and thrash to create a unique sound that has been fused together extremely well to create an album full of cracking numbers that keep the listener engrossed from start to finish.

Opening number ‘Impaled’ starts off with a nice build up from the drums before the machine like riffage opens fire. The first thoughts of the impressive vocals, courtesy of Scott Anderson, is man, he sounds a bit like Max Cavalera, before he changes it up to something more akin to black metal screeches showing that Scott has some variety to his vocals not only here, but throughout this album with the use of death metal growls and death and black metal screams.

The guitarwork is outstanding, and brilliant as they mix usage of styles found in thrash, death and black metal to their advantage and pull off some killer, destructive riffs and some awesome solos with aplomb, with an early example being ‘The Way of The Twilight Or The Aura of Flies’. Try remembering that after a few beers! ‘Bastards On The Gallows Or Bastards On The Rack’ is a great pacy number that is also quite upbeat and catchy as hell. You can’t help but headbang to it and throw some fists during the choral section.

Picking out a few favourites from the album is not easy. In fact, the whole album is so well constructed its damn right impossible, however, seen as I am black metal fan, it would be rude of me not to mention ‘Darkest Day’ which uses some excellent black metal style guitarwork and was a real treat, but the likes of ‘Manuel’s Mile’ and ‘Fury of The Northmen’ are also worthy of mentions for their extremely catchy yet still brutallic nature.

The fast paced and crushing ‘Pestilence’ is a fitting way to wrap up the album, and to say its good is an understatement. This is not only solid throughout, but a brilliant listen from start to finish that shows off the best of what ACHREN has to offer, full blooded, uncompromising and brutal, yet shows great song structure and writing too! The production is great too, with everything sounding pretty much at the right levels in the mix, yet not so polished that it loses that tiny bit of roughness around the edges that gives it that bit of atmosphere and aura you need with releases in the extreme metal genre. To sum up the album in one word, Superb!

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

Although ‘Rat King’ is that bit more refined and mature too sound wise from their debut, it still delivers that knockout punch in the intense ferocious pace, brutality and vociferousness of their material here as on their debut did a couple of years ago. There also has been some work gone into the structural aspects too, for example where tracks take a little breather before continuing their path of destruction.

Opening number ‘Conqueror’ lays down the groundwork for the rest of the album as it obliterates anything that would dare stand in its way. The blistering pace of the drums, along with the crunching riffs really do hit you straight from the off, none of this pussyfooting around with intro’s or whatnot.

The album is apparently themed from folklore from Germany about, surprise, surprise, Rat Kings. Something where rats became entangled together through various means, and were often associated with plagues and bad omens. If you had the lyrics at hand, you could probably check this, however trying to make out what vocalist Henrik Blomqvist is singing would prove near on impossible in itself as his unrelenting guttural style really knows no bounds.

‘You Should Be Paranoid’ has a more technical feel to it, with its almost machine like riffage, which could literally shred you to pieces if it were attached to anything remotely axe-like! While ‘Rabid Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing’ crucifies anything with its utter raw power that will most likely tear your face off.

‘The Coming’ is a melodic interlude which primarily cuts the album into two parts. At just shy of two minutes, it seems a bit long seen as it doesn’t really build into the next track at all. Still, what immediately follows this is nothing short of sublime. ‘The Nothing’, is one hell of a number, and probably one of the standout tracks on the album. Ferocious guitarwork and pummeling drums are the foundation here to a track that just has that devastating nature to it.

Overall, AS YOU DROWN have produced a solid modern death metal album (and one that makes a great platform to build from), which really delivers an intense 40 minutes of crushing power and obliteration. It’s unrelenting brutality from track to track, whether it comes from battering the hell out of those drums, those monstrous and bone crunching riffs, the raucousness of those vocals, or a combination of all of them really does give it a bit of extra oomph, that gives the listener a feeling of satisfaction throughout, despite probable bleeding from the ears afterwards!

Rating: 4.2/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

Straight from the off, you can tell that this a far more polished and cleaner sound than their previous efforts, and it certainly helps bring the best out of the material on offer. Ferocious opener and title track, ‘Five Serpent’s Teeth’ has those classic 80′s style thrash riffs so much associated with EVILE while it also unleashes a ripper of a solo. It also shows they have matured even more, with work done on the structural side of each song too.

Matt Drake‘s vocals sound better than ever, and while they may not be has harsh in your face as like on ‘Enter The Grave’, they are certainly a step up and more refined from those on ‘Infected Nations’. ‘In Dreams of Terror’ shows the first real sign of another style being incorporated into their music with some interesting progressive style guitar work working exceptionally well to give the album another dimension.

‘Cult’ is a prime example of EVILE‘s influences blended together so subtly and easily to create a thrash classic. It hits you here, there and everywhere, that it could belong to a multitude of artists from the 80′s thrash scene. ‘Xaraya’ in certain sections sounds like something from an early METALLICA album, whilst the breakneck speed of ‘Origin of Oblivion’ is a full out assault of riffage and battery, and it’s absolutely sublime.

‘In Memoriam’ pays tribute to their late, but not forgotten bassist Mike Alexander. Joel Graham has filled his place, and the bass starts things off slowly creating an almost dark atmosphere, before the melodic style guitars come in. The whole song is one of the highlights of the album, and EVILE‘s first real attempt at producing a song of this more melancholic nature, and it really delivers. It shows that EVILE can mix it up, and are not afraid to show their ‘softer’ side as it be.

‘Long Live New Flesh’ is a strong number to close the album with, and one that will leave a lasting impression for the album as a whole to the listener, an extremely good impression. This is a superb thrash album from start to finish, with no filler at all. It’s got the riffs, the solos, the battery, the vocals and some modern twists to it too. In essence, EVILE have hit the nail right on the head here and delivered what was promised from ‘Enter The Grave’. While they may be classed in the thrash revival movement, there’s no question that these guys would certainly have graced the 80′s thrash scene at the time. This is thrash to the very core!

Rating: 4.6/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

The simple answer is an absolute hell yeah! In fact, it’s hard to believe this is only ANTERIOR‘s second album, as they have grown so much in the four years. ‘Echoes of The Fallen’ has a more technical side to it than ‘This Age of Silence’. There is still plenty of those crunching riffs and outstanding solo’s thrown in for good measure that ANTERIOR do so well, with the likes of opening numbers ‘To Live Not Remain’ and ‘Blood In The Throne Room’ being classic examples of this.

One of the best tracks here is ‘Tyranny’, and like the title, it’s a tyrannical and brutal rampage mixed with some metalcore traits to produce a beast of a number which would go down an absolute storm live. As with their last album, you get a melodic approach at times throughout the album which interchanges with the other faster than light segments seamlessly and with so much ease, it’s like second nature to them.

Luke Davies vocals are scintillating once again, and have even improved, as his harsh growls fluctuate to match the tempo and style of the music at the time. This is especially obvious between the brutal and more melodic segments. ‘Sleep Soundly No More’ is a classic ANTERIOR number, and this is a prime example of the dual guitar attack of Leon Kemp and Steven Nixon at its best. Their crushing riffs and interplay is astonishing and you can’t help but admire their guitar work.

‘Echoes of The Fallen’ finishes as strongly as it starts with ‘Venomous’ being a sheer relentless all out barrage attack at break neck speed, with a stunner of a solo contained within it too. Let’s not forget drummer James Cook, who pulverizes his kit at times with great aplomb and keeps each track flowing nicely along with bassist James Britton.

Overall, ‘Echoes of The Fallen’ is a great listen from start to finish, and there is plenty to keep to the listener encaptivated, I mean you just try not to headbang during the brutal segments or play air guitar to the solos. You just can’t help it! This is right up there with their debut album and also as one of the best albums of the year so far. After experiencing some of their new material at Sonisphere this year, I can safely say that they will kill live, so get your asses down to see them when they tour with SYLOSIS come the end of September/beginning of October.

Rating: 4.9/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

‘Takasago Army’ pretty much picks straight up where ‘Mirror of Retribution’ left off, and while they further delve down a more mainstream style, you get the feeling they are trying to get the best of both worlds. Keeping both the fans they had from the start with their oriental atmosphere (yes, you can still make out the oriental influences and style of the songs) and newer ones picked up from the more straight up black metal approach found on ‘Mirror of Retribution’, with the excellent ‘Legacy of The Seediq’ being an early example of this fusion. Those latter fans will eat this album straight up, but while it maybe more difficult for those earlier fans to digest, you can’t argue that this is a superb album never the less. CHTHONIC are still a unique band, and the term ‘Orient Metal’ has been coined for their existence pretty much alone at the moment. I mean, where the hell are you going to hear another Erhu in the metal genre, nevermind the black metal genre.

‘Takao’ is another sublime example of the fusion of styles that both delivers an oriental feel to it while is also a straight up, nothing held back onslaught of riffs, and pure carnage black metal track, and is a headbangers delight too. The chorus is entirely in the bands native language too, Taiwanese, which really gives it another edge as well as been quite catchy too, even if it will provide a challenge to fans to try and pronounce the lyrics, let alone sing them. Another full out barrage attack is found in the form of ‘KAORU’, with the guitars not letting up even through the more atmospheric and melodic approach of the oriental style sections of this track, whislt the drums are exceptionally good not only on this track but throughout the album too helping to keep the fast paced nature of the tracks going to the end.

The use of synths and oriental instruments coupled with a brutal style to the songs does create a great atmosphere (and there is an intro and interlude that help build this quite well), but on a couple of occasions I did find the synths didn’t quite work for me in certain sections of the songs, but that is in the extreme minority and the to be honest, you will probably hardly notice it as when it does occur, the guitars will probably be too busy melting your face off to even be concerned by it, as they are, and let’s be frank, absolutely superb, with crunching riffs here, there and everywhere, and some cracking solos too thrown in for good measure with ‘Southern Cross’ and ‘Quells The Souls In The Sing Ling Temple’ being prime examples here.

All in all, CHTHONIC have produced a really good black metal album here in ‘Takasago Army’, and yes, while they may be shedding their earlier style slightly, the evolution to a more modern sound, whilst still having that prominent Oriental aura and feeling throughout the album, works together brilliantly to basically manufacture only one thing. The unique sound that is CHTHONIC!

Rating: 4.4/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

‘Watch Them Burn’ is a great and aggressive way to start the album as they tear into the album with nothing held back, and continues at full throttle into next track ‘Ruination of The Lost’. ‘Eyes of Black’ is a real highlight on this album, and you would run out of superlatives to describe it’s epicness. The guitar work is immense here and there is a hint of virtuoso-ness too ala Yngwie Malmsteem, making this one of the best new metalcore tracks I have heard in a while.

‘Arise The War Cry’ shows off some good use of melodic riffs, and the ease of it which it changes from melodic to brutal back to melodic is sheer genius, and engrosses the listener even further, before a almost faster marching style of the drums, starting off a ferocious breakdown. ‘Equinox’ is one of the more interesting tracks here, as it starts off really slow using keyboards to build up into the song before some intricate guitar work breaks through, and the more brutal side of the song pretty much starts and then finishes almost as quickly as it had begun, before more keyboards then take the track out.

‘The Fallen’ is another sublime example of mixing another style of the metal genre into the song. The guitars are more akin to a traditional/power metal style in places and switch between this and a more straight up metalcore style with seamless ease, but the drums take a severe pounding in this as temporary drummer Justin Foley leads a barrage of attacks on them, and the result is quite spectacular and thoroughly satisfying on the ear.

While it’s extremely difficult to pick out favourites from this album, another real highlight for me is the awesome ‘Overcome’. Contained within it is a multitude of excellent elements that all work together to produce a sublime tune. Awesome solo, a catchy chorus, a fast paced style and some crunching guitars. This is one track that makes you just want to bang your head and throw your horns or pump your fists in the air whilst screaming out the chorus.

Anybody who loves their previous albums will love this too. UNEARTH have delivered yet another killer album in ‘Darkness In The Light’ that can not only stand up to the excellence of it’s predecessors, it even surpasses them, and with album after album of pure quality, you have to wonder how they will choose a set come touring time to keep everybody happy. This is another masterpiece, and it’s near enough constant brutality and superb tracks from start to finish, whilst mixing a few other styles too into the album make UNEARTH masters of their craft, and still firmly mixing it with the big boys in the metalcore genre. Superb guys!

Rating: 4.9/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks

Despite JOURNEY’s increased exposure to new fans, they have resisted moving in a more pop direction, with the songs on this album packing suitable classic rock punch, yes, you’re almost involuntarily headbanging to the crunching climax of ‘She’s A Mystery’. Lead single and opening track ‘City of Hope’ is a highlight, and it’s matched in the quality stakes by the excellent ‘Edge of the Moment’ and ‘Resonate’.

Nobody will ever replace the feel and sheer natural emotion of Steve Perry’s voice, but Filipino Arnel Pineda does have a fantastic voice, and his strong performance here will continue to build his blossoming reputation, and stature as JOURNEY’s bona fide frontman. Meanwhile, Mr. Journey himself, Neil Schon is in fine form throughout the CD, with some great guitar solos, and an all together soulful performance.

The album does unfortunately lack a top notch ballad, with ‘Tantra’ and ‘To Whom It May Concern’ both falling just short of the ballad standard set by JOURNEY in the past. Still, most other bands would be proud of the latter, but it’s going to struggle to replce ‘Open Arms’ or ‘Faithfully’ on your average person’s iPod playlist.

Overall, ‘Eclipse’ is a very strong album, and a more than worthwhile addition to the JOURNEY discography. What is for sure is that the best songs from the album will freshen up JOURNEY’s setlist for the forthcoming UK tour with FOREIGNER and STYX, which for me promises to be the classic rock show of 2011. If you haven’t already secured your ticket, what the hell are you playing at? Miss it, miss out!

Rating 4.0/5.0

JOURNEY, FOREIGNER & STYX UK Tour June 2011:

Sat 04 London, UK – Wembley Arena
Sun 05 Birmingham, UK – LG Arena
Tue 07 Newcastle, UK – Metro Radio Arena
Wed 08 Manchester, UK – M.E.N. Arena
Thu 09 Glasgow, Scotland – S.E.C.C.
Sat 11 Dublin, Ireland – The o2
Sun 12 Belfast, N. Ireland – Odyssey Arena

The ten tracks presented here are very much a slice of classic metal, ranging from thunderous thrash, to more straight ahead NWOBHM. Without a moment to catch your breath, the album jumps instantly to life with opener ‘I See Red’, a self-evidently angry track with a powerful riff that quickly grabs you by the throat and forces you to pay attention to what FURY UK has to offer.

This band are very proud of their metal routes, and show no shame in wearing their metal influences on their sleeves. The excellent ‘Saviour’ absolutely screams MEGADETH, whilst the catchiest track on the album ‘Show of Force’ would fit nicely on a METALLICA album.

‘Nemesis’ and ‘Athena’ show a good ability to mix up tempos, and seemlesly incorporate excellent time changes. The best song on the album is the magnificent 10 minute epic IRON MAIDEN style composition ‘The Remainder’. All what’s good about this band is nicely represented in this track. Good melodies, interesting lyrics, crunching riffs, and lead guitar wizardry to make you eat your heart out.

‘A Way of Life’ is a very good, thoroughly enjoyable metal album, and most importantly, it has enough top drawer songs to freshen up FURY UK’s already stunning live performances. FURY UK remain a bright prospect and continue to do a great job of flying the flag for up and coming UK metal.

Rating 4.2/5.0
Review by James Allman

Release Date: 6th September 2010

‘Satellite 15 … The Final Frontier’ (Smith/Harris) 08.40

In the case of ‘Satellite 15′, you’re talking probably the most adventurous number MAIDEN have ever penned. Out of the box, its a swirling mist of atmospheric guitars, frenetic bass lines and pummelling drums – after of which the track ascends into QUEENSRYCHE-esque melodrama and hits you for a Brian Lara 6 quite memorably – smouldering. 

Segueing into eponymous title track ‘The Final Frontier’, there’s slab after slab of classic MAIDEN riffery, complete with infectious melodies from verse through to chorus, and some slick lead guitar work. Also features a stunning, Eddie premiere of a video that must have cost insane amounts of wonga. Check it out @ www.ironmaiden.com. Probably would have been better to separate the two, but then again, any excuse for the cause of another 7 minute plus epic…

‘El Dorado’ (Smith/Harris/Dickinson) 06.49

First listen to this spiralling epic and it appears to be a dubious singles release choice. A bizarre intro more akin to how MAIDEN would close a track than start one, the verses, while telling a story, don’t really stir the musical soul. Luckily, the mystical pre-chorus and a swashbuckling, monolithic chorus – not to mention the grandiose triple solo section – more than restore fortunes. Also sees the ‘Air Raiden Siren’ Bruce Dickinson hitting his most crazily high notes in possibly a decade. In spite of the rather mundane verse melodies, ‘El Dorado’ is a real grower.

‘Mother Of Mercy’ (Smith/Harris) 05.20

“You say you are a holy man but what is it you do? Of where I stand there’s nothing, but a hollow man I see…” Passionately croons Bruce, the first of many songs on ‘The Final Frontier’ to slam the sins of bad religion and all who endorse it. A rocker, ‘Mother Of Mercy’ contains frequent, beautifully executed time changes as well as a good dollop of old fashioned MAIDEN gallop on the verses. A true mini Irons epic. The solo section again classically whiffs of a QUEENSRYCHE-esque vibe.

‘Coming Home’ – (Smith/Harris/Dickinson) 05.52

The lighters in the air ballad of ‘The Final Frontier’, this glorious effort oozes gooey melodies from the first minute to the last, joining previous MAIDEN gems in this department such as ‘Wasting Love’, ‘Blood Brothers’ and ‘Journeyman’.

A harmonized intro gives birth to acoustic verses and a simply epic chorus, with Bruce romanticizing over coming home from a pilot’s prospective. An interesting approach, it’s certainly well handled given the predictability of most ‘Coming Home’ related themes.
In fact, we’ll go further – given most people who attempted such a Dickinsonian-esque task would probably work in a European soft cheese factory (and fall flat on their arse at that) this is a bona fide triumph.

‘The Alchemist’ (Gers/Harris/Dickinson) 04.29

A classic MAIDEN tactic of the last few years has seen MAIDEN‘s three amigos combining harmonies with higher octaves. The intro (which also doubles up as an after chorus section) shows this off flawlessly.

‘The Alchemist’ not only delivers a memorable chorus, we also get a frenetically paced number with further tantalising harmonies and a blistering ‘he’s had his Weetabix’ solo from Gers. Its true to say a lot of MAIDEN fans would like to see more efforts like this, and while one can see MAIDEN have evolved into an entirely greater epic entity these days, ‘The Alchemist’ does at least prove they can still deliver these type of songs emphatically.

‘Isle Of Avalon’ (Smith/Harris) 09.06

In a nutshell, an absolute pearler. Dreamy style verses give way to what have to be some of the discs finest pre-chorus and chorus melodies.

The “I can hear you, can you hear me, I can feel you, can you feel me” lyrics may seem unbelievably basic, but they fit like a dream, the only breathing space from the incredibly deep lyrics (presumably based on mythical fertility rituals) that penetrate throughout the rest of the song. This song builds more than Tesco, the chorus at one point recalling a classic chord from ‘Brighter Than A Thousand Suns’ (on previous album ‘A Matter Of Life And Death’), and Adrian Smith’s Satriani style solo is reminiscent of something from the ‘Somewhere In Time’ album. Smart.

‘Starblind’ (Smith/Harris/Dickinson) 07.48

A true head turner, ‘Starblind’ takes you by surprise with its huge keyboard intro and rather off kilter vocal melodies – a nice touch. A monster riff launches the song into orbit before a decent chorus grabs the ascendancy, remarkably bettered by an after chorus which to these ears is one of the greatest moments on the disc.

Humungous hooks, all underpinned by ‘Infinite Dreams’ like bluesy guitars and a clever key change, there’s an uncanny similarity to the DIDO melodies (taken from EMINEM‘s ‘Stan’ progression) following the key change, but we can at least rest assured there’s more chance of an asteroid sending you Eddie via special delivery than Harris and co taking inspiration from something they accidently overheard on Radio 1. The guitar-work in the remainder of the track – whether it be colossal riffery or cleverly orchestrated solos – is sublime. Another track asking searching questions about religion.

‘The Talisman’ (Gers/Harris) 09.03

Deceptively opening with a folksy intro that you could deem ‘sea shanty’, by golly is this a two and a half minutes intro that takes some listening to, but as with this album in general, it’s worth it and definitely rewards.

Storm time shortly follows, monstrous riffery parting company with trademark MAIDEN melody lines, numerous time changes, two bombastic chorus sections and cinematic whammy bar insanity that flashes from one channel to the other (listen through headphones) marking a truly dramatic finale.

Lyrics typically depict some IRON MAIDEN reality horror: “Twenty days without a meal and ten without fresh water still, those who didn’t die in storms the scurvy rest did slaughter”
Sure to draw comparisons to 1985′s ‘Rime Of The Ancient Mariner’, its 11 minutes of pure genius.

‘The Man Who Would Be King’ (Murray/Harris) 08.28

One of the most gorgeous intros MAIDEN have ever penned, one detects Dave Murray was having a little bit of a ‘Doctor Doctor’ moment…

A solid epic with some truly anthemic moments, including the fascinating after chorus sections, with vocals unlike MAIDEN have ever really done before, but the chorus itself doesn’t really captivate in the same way as some of the choice cuts present, making this number an epic Prince rather than a standout King. Really well thought out harmonies and a unique Murray solo, deliberately lowered in the mix for textural purposes.

‘Where The Wild Wind Blows’ (Harris) 10.59

The centrepiece of ‘The Final Frontier’ album, this saddening tale of post nuclear fallout (inspired by the Raymond Briggs novel) is the perfect way to conclude what could yet prove to be IRON MAIDEN‘s final studio album (and on this evidence, lets certainly hope not).

There’s no real chorus present, the song mainly driven by all manners of luscious, guitar laden hooks and vocal melodies that interact with guitar melodies. Not that it needs a chorus – the axe-work provides twist after endless twist, turn after magnificent turn of drama and musicality, stunning solos and tear jerking lyrics make this the show stealer bar none.

“When they found them, had their arms wrapped around each other, their tins of poison laying near by their clothes, the day they both mistook an earthquake for the fallout, Just another when the wild wind blows…”
Wild is indeed the wind.

If Carlsberg did easy listening albums, they’d have to be trolleyed via Export to put ‘The Final Frontier’ on their shortlist for greatest in the world. Don’t be fooled my friends, if you love MAIDEN – and particularly their epic nature – then you’re in for one hell of a journey.

‘The Final Frontier’ is the hardest work on the listening front the band have produced since 1995’s ‘The X Factor’. While it’s undeniably an album that’s unlikely to win many new converts outside of the worldwide metal entourage, it’s a must that you make this journey.

Simply because, the reward is a deeply complex, genuinely unique IRON MAIDEN album that not only contains masterpiece after masterpiece, but also chooses to take chances and risks.
You only have to listen to ‘The Talisman’‘s folksy intro, the unfamiliar time signature and key change in ‘Starblind’, the bizarrely heavy and almost alternative ‘Satellite 15′, ballad ‘Coming Home’, ‘El Dorado’s mind boggling intro and towering chorus… on top of all of this, the guitar work is also the most challenging the band has ever done.

On the broader, more critical scale of things, MAIDEN aren’t without their critics so this exercise in doing something different alongside the trademark musical familiarities is a very welcome trait. Maybe returning to Compass Point Nassau studios – in The Bahamas where MAIDEN recorded the classic ‘Piece Of Mind’ and ‘Powerslave’ albums – has rekindled that extra spark of magic.

The choruses – from the title track through to ‘Isle Of Avalon’ – are rarely anything other than outstanding, MAIDEN in general delivering progressive melodies with flair and finesse throughout.

MAIDEN seem to have toned down the intensity of the guitars from the last album – or at least that’s how the production suggests – but there’s moody shades with a glorious balance of soft and loud throughout. In spite of a whole plethora of 6 to 11 minute epics – ‘El Dorado’, ‘Isle Of Avalon’, ‘The Talisman’, ‘The Man Who Would Be King’, ‘Where The Wild Wind Blows’ – there’s also a fine contingent of rockers – ‘Mother Of Mercy’, ‘The Alchemist’ and ‘The Final Frontier’ itself.

The perfect showcase to conclude a magnificent 30 years of molten metal, its hard to pick a defined champion between this and last album, ‘A Matter Of Life And Death’, but there’s no doubt that like ‘Brave New World’, this is IRON MAIDEN’s greatest triumph since 1988’s ‘Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son’.

In conclusion, for three of four albums in the last ten years to draw such comparisons is further outstanding proof of why IRON MAIDEN are widely regarded as the World’s greatest heavy metal band. Long live heavy metal – long live IRON F****** MAIDEN.

Rating: 10/10

Review By Andy Law

Album opener, ‘Beyond Our Suffering’ sets off at such a pace like a drag car that you are kind of left in it’s exhaust fumes whilst it powers on without any remorse, giving it a more technical death metal feel to it. Unrelenting in it’s approach, Jordan Mancino‘s drums are as brutal and vigourous as I have ever heard, whilst the unmistakable rough vocals of Tim Lambesis are not far behind, and especially here amongst other places on this album you can hear a more lower guttural growl style from the big man himself mainly associated with death metal vocalists.

‘Anodyne Sea’ follows in a similar fashion to the opener, albeit a more restrained version, and also showcases the first clean vocals and melodies too, something used on the rest of the album to good effect to change things up, whilst the more heavier and faster numbers in the form of ‘Without Conclusion’ and ‘Condemned’ hits us full in the face, both of which make use of some excellent thrash style riffs, the latter being an exceptional example.

‘Parallels’ and ‘Upside Down Kingdom’ are both prime examples of mixing melody with brutality seamlessly, and with catchy choruses that ensure they will be stuck in your head for days, it shows the varied approach to each song on this album. Closing duo of ‘The Only Constant Is Change’ and ‘The Blinding of False Light’ end the album solidly and keep the listener engrossed until the end with some good guitarwork and melodic sections.

The breakdowns that are so well known with the genre are all but gone in favour of more solos, riffs, melodies and harmonies between the guitars that bring a breath of fresh air to whole metalcore sound, while the structures of the songs are out of this world with every little piece sounding exactly where it should be and fitting together nicely like a cold beer in your hand!

‘The Powerless Rise’ is far from a powerless release, in fact I would go so far as to say it’s their most powerful, heaviest and best release to date and combines their previous efforts whilst adding another dimension and influences to their sound which shows AS I LAY DYING‘s apt nature for evolution whilst still creating solid and outstanding albums at the same time. ‘The Powerless Rise’ has evolved the metalcore sound even more, and for the better, and whether anyone, including the creators themselves, can better this in the future remains to be seen.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Review By Adam Fredericks