Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Iron Savior
Label: AFM Records
Release: 2014
Runtime: 55:06
Rating: 4/5
What can you expect from the new studio album by German power metallers Iron Savior, their eighth overall, led since 1996 by the unwavering, seasoned guitarist, vocalist, arranger, composer, lyricist and producer Piet Sielck? Iron Savior are a constant that doesn’t change across time and space, which makes them a guarantee of high quality. And »Rise of the Hero« is no different! The new album is once again forged from the tried-and-tested recipe of hammering out the noblest German steel, packed with that unmistakable power metal bombast. Promised aggression and predatory melody go hand in hand in their trademark perfect symbiosis! A well-defined guitar riff, propped up by the merciless rolling of the double bass drum pedals. No more, no less.
The faithful Powerhouse studio is once again the “sinful” place where »Rise Of the Hero« was recorded and produced. It’s an album full of fantastic new heavy metal marches, arranged carefully and with attention to every little detail, following Sielck’s proven formula that works its full-blooded magic every single time. Sielck is considered one of the pillars who, with their work in the eighties, helped German power metal bloom to the fullest! His own »understanding« of heavy metal, recognizable in Helloween, Gamma Ray and Blind Guardian, with whom the man has been (fatefully) tied throughout his career, has once again been distilled concisely into the musical legacy of the new Iron Savior album. And once again he comes out of this new musical story as the big winner. As long as Sielck keeps composing songs as inspired as the mid-tempo anthemic march Dragon King, we have no reason to fear for Iron Savior’s future. They’ll record a whole heap of excellent albums yet. On top of all that wound-up, revitalized shine of power metal teeth, the crucial “cherry on top” of the whole story of the new Iron Savior album is, once again, Sielck’s incredibly soulful, penetrating, recognizably mildly rasping yet in every register strongly dominant, fully melodic vocal approach!
The stability of the lineup has reached an extraordinary tightness in recent years, which shows in the consistency of all their studio releases, none of which waver in quality. On top of that, three years passed between “The Landing” and “Rise of the Hero”, which is another factor that helped the freshly created material reach just the right maturity. The riffs, which testify to Sielck’s big “teenage” crush on Judas Priest and his devotion to their image and work, especially in the era of the albums »Sreaming For Vengeance« and »Defenders Of The Faith«, are once again gloriously exalted in his production hands through a crushing, white-hot sound. Across all 55 minutes of playing time, it bares an insatiably sharp set of teeth that leaves no survivors in its wake. The song The Demon picks up, in its verse, some recognizable content from the ultimate metal ballad by the mighty Judas Priest, Beyond The Realms Of Death. Even Sielck’s “little gamble”, which is no stranger to Iron Savior whenever the debate turns to picking covers of well-known artists, has paid off. This time the band decided to slip onto the album a cover of Swedish MTV-style alt rockers Mando Diao, titled Dance With Somebody, which works devilishly well in the company of the other metal heartbeats. Simple as that. Iron Savior, led by Sielck, are so experienced and seasoned that at this point they simply can’t make a mistake that would fatally degrade the quality of the rest of the album.
So an inexhaustible kick awaits you from the first to the last second of the band’s new, exceptionally high-quality release! All you power metal true believers, however many of you are still alive in an age when the genre enjoys no popularity whatsoever in the metal community, will surely rate this album highly.
Lineup
Piet Sielck – vocals, guitar
Joachim “Piesel” Küstner – guitar, backing vocals
Jan-Sören Eckert – bass guitar, backing vocals
Thomas Nack – drums, backing vocals
Production
Piet Sielck
Tracklist
- Ascendence (Intro) (1:28)
- Last Hero (5:00)
- Revenge of the Bride (4:35)
- From Far Beyond Time (5:17)
- Burning Heart (4:39)
- Thunder from the Mountains (5:08)
- Iron Warrior (4:41)
- Dragon King (5:43)
- Dance with Somebody (Mando Diao cover) (3:55)
- Firestorm (4:58)
- The Demon (5:02)
- Fistraiser (4:40)
