Iron Savior-Rise Of The Hero

AFM Records
2014

After a three-year break in the action Germany's Iron Savior are back for the attack with album number eight, "Rise Of The Hero". The last time we checked in with the band was on "The Landing" (reviewed here on our site by founder Metal Mark) and at that point in time the band was still riding high thanks to their patented take on the power metal genre. With "Rise Of The Hero" (produced by band founder Piet Sielck) it's (again) more of the same, but when it works this well can that really be a bad thing? The answer should be a resounding "No!", but one does have to take into account that some people like something new and exciting (style-wise) out of their bands with each new disc. For Iron Savior it has never really been about branching out into bold new territory especially when you can just let rip crunchy power metal with cool solos and even cooler choruses. Still, there is a bit of evolution at play here. Or at least you could look at it that way. With "Rise Of The Hero" the band has most certainly gone out of the way to be heavier. Although, to be fair and all, it's much more likely that the group just remembered their time-honored roots and said "Let's tear it up for old time sake!!!". And that they do! They tear things up BIG TIME! As per usual Piet Sielck's voice screams POWER (not that bass guitarist Jan-Sören Eckert, who handles lead vocals on a few of these tracks, is anything to sneeze at!) as the band takes what would otherwise be (troubling & formulaic) power metal and drop kicks it into the sun! Not many other bands can pull it all of like this lot and even if you know it's been done before it's all so wicked cool when it comes roaring out from this German four-piece! The leads are epic no doubt with Joachim Küstner's playing combining with Piet Sielcks for a nice metallic (one-two) delivery and with drummer Thomas Nack doing more then just keeping time this band returns triumphantly! Is it all golden? Well, the choice to cover Mando Diao's "Dance With Somebody" does leaves the listener with more questions then anything. But, other then this head-scratching moment (I mean yes, it was meant to be the bonus cut on special editions, but still...) there's not much one could possibly (or reasonably unless you were really going to nitpick everything to death!) find wrong with "Rise Of The Hero". I suppose it should be noted that there are several different versions of this one available as the CD I hold in my hand differs from the online promo in that it does not include a re-recorded version of "I've Been to Hell" from the band's 2001 album "Dark Assault". I totally dig the re-recorded version though (it adds a little extra bit of nostalgia to the mix) and would recommend going that route. Meanwhile, there also appears to be another expanded edition that tacks on another re-recorded song in "Mind Over Matter" (the original version appears on the group's 1999 album, "Unification"). From what I've read online it also sounds rather epic, but really let's face it folks. No matter which version you choose to pick up it's all good as the band's new material is cool and just rolling with that bit would be killer! So, even if it did take a couple of years to crank this one out it sounds as if it's been worth the wait!