Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Iron Savior
Label: AFM Records
Release: 2016
Running time: 50:51
Rating: 3/5
Iron Savior, the long-running Hamburg power metallers who keep on going under the tireless leadership of their ultimate chieftain Piet Sielck, never stop putting out records. Two years ago their predecessor »Rise of the Hero« came out, last year Sielck served up a revamped version of »Megatropolis 2.0«, which actually sounds considerably better than the original released in 2007, and then came a live document from the band’s club show in Hamburg, titled »Live At the Final Frontier« (DVD/2CD). In short: I doubt even Piet Sielck himself remembers the last time he worked this hard and this feverishly on the band’s good name, over a career that’s already more than enviably long.
Anyway. »Titancraft« delivers the classic look, one that power metal ears have more than thoroughly absorbed and settled into. In other words, the new album will get under their skin and into their ears in no time. But it’s exactly this packed schedule of Sielck’s that gave birth to some weaker ideas, and above all to an all-too-obvious feeling of self-repetition and barely disguised self-cloning. No surprise there, since Iron Savior, true to their German roots, won’t budge an inch from their musical vision and stay unconditionally loyal to it. A break of a few years would do Sielck a world of good, bringing more freshness to his new studio ventures. But the unshakeable musician doesn’t think that way, and in the spirit of a well-disciplined grafter, or workaholic, he’s already rushing to greet the fans with a new album.
»Titancraft« is a somewhat friendlier listen than its predecessors. Even »cheerful« – Freedom Call even come to mind – bright and bubbling with positivity. It sticks to tried-and-tested templates. At times it leans stylistically toward old Blind Guardian, as well as old Gamma Ray. The riffs are drawn from the Judas Priest school, and the whole thing occasionally veers into Primal Fear territory too. So it works in the manner of a proper power metal album, the kind that only a petrified old German school can raise. So. If you want to meet the most genre-representative example of the European school of power metal, you can put »Titancraft« straight into that league. It’s played with fire, the songs are all crafted with the band’s vast experience in mind and arranged once again so they grab you immediately and ignite on the spot. Within the resulting racket, the catchy production moves lend the record a vampiric, pissed-off, cranked-up sonic stance. In this, Iron Savior simply can’t miss.
As said. An album built with grit on a recipe that will please the band’s longtime followers, though Iron Savior have certainly seen (and lived through) times of greater creative inspiration. Solid, but nothing special.
Iron Savior – Way of the Blade (official video):
Lineup
Piet Sielck – vocals, guitar
Joachim “Piesel” Kuestner – guitar
Jan S. Eckert – bass guitar
Thomas Nack – drums
Production
Piet Sielck
Track list
1. Under Siege (intro)
2. Titancraft
3. Way of the Blade
4. Sieze the Day
5. Gunsmoke
6. Beyond the Horizon
7. The Sun Won’t Rise in Hell
8. Strike Down the Tyrrany
9. Brother in Arms
10. I Surrender
11. Rebellious
