Hey everyone and welcome to my first Album Review of the Week! The main purpose of this is for me to share my opinions on my favorite albums and to try and expose people to bands they may not have known about. Since you probably already know that I enjoy the metal music, most of my reviews will be metal albums although I will throw in some straight up rock albums here and there. For now, I’ll concentrate on releases from the past few years while also including some classics. I’ll definitely be doing some recent releases when they become available. This is somewhat experimental and I would love feedback from you guys on how I can make these reviews better. Also, I’ll probably be updating these on Fridays or Saturdays.
Allegiance- Firewind
A friend of mine played me Firewind and as soon as I heard them I knew that I had to check them out. These guys are one of several power metal bands from Europe (in this case, Greece ) that take elements from classic ‘80s metal and give them a modern feel. This album begins with the ball-punching title track and continues the adrenaline surge with “Insanity”. Things become simplified with the catchyness of “Falling to Piece” which is followed with my personal favorite on the album, “Ready to Strike”. “Breaking the Silence” is another catchy yet heavy song (despite its corniness) and features the pop singer Tara (don’t ask me who she is cause I have no clue). At this point, the album has reached its peek and continues to be great without the impact the first few songs had. “Till the End of Time” is the last song to really stand out in my opinion with fast driven verses and its heavy chorus. The rest of the tracks on the album are definitely listenable and don’t detract from the overall quality of the package as a whole.
Some of the factors that make this group stand out from other metal bands are the memorable choruses in both the guitar work and lyrics. Singer Apollo Papathanasio does an amazing job in selling the songs with the power of his voice as well of the vocal melody he provides. Guitarist Gus G. (previously of Dream Evil) brings his signature guitar work to his solos that make him instantly recognizable. Overall, Allegiance is a prime example of what the combination of classic and modern metal can produce when done right. Anyone who likes power metal or metal in general needs to check this one out.
Standout Tracks:
Allegiance
Insanity
Falling to Pieces
Breaking the Silence
Till the End of Time
* Also check out “The Fire and the Fury” from the Burning Earth album as well as their cover of “Maniac” on The Premonition.
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