Embedded Files
POWER PALADIN -”Beyond The Reach of Enchantment”
POWER PALADIN -”Beyond The Reach of Enchantment”
By Bob Burner
Over the past month or so I have been seeing POWER PALADIN’s name mentioned on how great this new album “Beyond The Reach of Enchantment” is. Due to the name of the band I ignorantly passed over giving it a listen thinking it was just another power metal video game band. Then lo and behold, here we are now with this same album falling onto my lap for a review. I was very interested in checking it out since there was a lot of good buzz about this slab of over the top power metal. Can it live up to the social media hype or will it be one that falls short? Well, let’s take a quest down the reach of enchantment and see how this is.
This band from Iceland starts off their second album with a very high powered blast of metal that will grab you right from the start. It has everything one would want from this style of metal. “Sword Vigor”, the opening track, has all the pieces of the puzzle of making a great song. Sing along chorus, catchy in all aspects and lots of great melodies. The key here is that the band is not trying to change or reinvent the genre, all energy is put into making great music that is catchy and memorable.
What I love about this album is that each song just builds and builds to make one epic fifty minute album of no filler and all killer. There is no slowing down on this high speed adventure for any acoustic deep soul searching song here. It is all high adventure and one you will want to relive over and over. There is a slight touch of cheese but the rest is all pure heavy metal in the realm of early HELLOWEEN, and even a touch of the early 2000’s Euro power metal in the vein of CELESTY or FRETERNTIA. The vocals range from rawish to clean but there’s no high pitch wailing. They really have a blend and mix of all their own which never overtakes the music. This is far from the hordes of generic power metal acts flooding the market.
The last song “Valediction” is one of my favorites from this release. It has such a bouncy energy to it and the chorus is killer and really powerful. There is also a touch of harsh vocals that pop up that flow well with the whole song. The last half of the song will make you want to go out and buy a sword so you can hold it up high while this song plays. I think this song also is a great example of the power and style of this amazing band and the way they convey a story without losing focus on writing great music.
I am very grateful that I was given a chance to review this album because I would have overlooked this release which would have been a huge mistake on my part. I highly recommend every fan of power metal to check out this album now. Even if you are not into power metal, check it out and you may love the speed aspect and the catchiness of it all. This will be a top 10 album of the year for a lot of people including myself. This band should be on everyone’s radar or in everyone’s crystal ball. There are eight songs and all are top notch and something unique in each and nothing ever just blends together or being there for filler. This is something very rare so get your adventure party together and take a quest to the local record shop and pick up POWER PALADIN’s new album now. You will not regret it. It is great to see another solid power metal album that is straight up all power and no flower.
Report abuse