It may be clear, singer Martin Steene has been through a lot of stages and changes in order to end up with the sound and line-up Iron Fire exists of nowadays. But then, the result is quite nice and a truly dedication towards heavy music with a big blinking eye towards classical pop/rock songs.

This band has been able to come up with a record that shows how writing an album should be. There are a lot of different styles on it, the production is pretty nice and although the musicians are capable of doing a lot of crazy stuff, simplicity forms the basis of the songs, making this album easy to listen to. Opener ‘Wings of Rage’ is, in my opinion, not the best opener with a strange rhythm in which the bands seems to be searching for its sound, but with the third song starts ‘Metal Messiah’ (there’s that eye) all brakes go loose and a smile starts to occur on my face. Nice and slow guitar solos make me feel great, even when walking through a city centre on a cloudy, grey day and I’m sure a lot of others will feel the same. The music may all seem a bit like a cliché and surely is not that original, but the separate songs are sure to be proud off. 

A bit of a shame is the overdone ‘hero’ aspect of the singer, like on the end of ‘Savage Prophecy’. You know; no more music while the singer sings of ‘The legend to beee heeee’ with this quasi-pop gorgeous looking guy attitude. I almost start to think that the band doesn’t take itself that serious whereas especially the vocals are really nice and powerful, just like it should be on speed/power metal. It’s a shame because the quality of the whole disc decreases a little bit in this way.

But then, when looking for a more than average classic heavy speed metal album, Iron Fire sure did a good job. Martin Steene can be relieved and sure has something to present to his Almighty. And with a little change in constructing a whole album and the attitude, his quest is sure not to end soon.