Inner Siege-Kingdom of Shadows

Roxx Records
2012


I've got to admit that I hesitated at the point in the promo introduction to Inner Siege where it said that they
were "America’s answer to the European Power Metal scene". And I am supposed to be excited exactly why? I kid of course even though the European scene drives me into fits of rage at the shear amount of boring material that can be fit onto one album. At any length, this new band is nowhere near as bad as I feared. Inner Siege hail from Peoria, Illinois. it's interesting to note that Peoria is the oldest European settlement in Illinois. Maybe that has something to do then with Inner Siege's interest in playing European-flavored power metal? Of course Mudvayne is also from Peoria so it can't all be all that great of a place right? Anyway, getting back on track here, Inner Siege managed to impress someone along the way as they inked a deal with Los Angeles based Roxx Records to release this, their debut full length album, and add some variety to the record label along the way. Now, even though Inner Siege go about citing bands like   Firewind, Kamelot, Dream Evil and Iron Maiden as some of their influences there is quite obviously some American metal in their sound. At times the band reminded me of fellow-Illinois band Sacred Warrior and comparisons have been made already to Queensryche. That does make sense as "Kingdom Of Shadows" is a concept album. But, to be fair, the band is most certainly heavier then even early Queensryche and their sound is slightly inspired as well by early Metal Church and the like. Fredrik Nordstrom (Dream Evil) was brought in to mix and master the sound of Inner Siege's debut-album and, in his talented hands, everything sounds really good. Cuts like "Children Of Winter" and "Sacrifice" jump out of the speakers and offer the listener a worthwhile addition to their power metal collection. As it stands I would consider this to be a better alternative to some of the simply silly European power metal out there, but I'm obvious not impartial in that regard. Still, one thing is clear and that is that "Kingdom of Shadows" is a much better release then I anticipated and in that regard I am more than happy to be proven wrong. Set for release next week (December 11, 2012 to be exact) pre-order packages are now available. Visit www.roxxproductions.com for full release details.