Review by Chris Pratl on November 11, 2018.

Once again, Canada’s Odinfist takes the true power metal sound to some positive heights with the latest effort titled Rest in Glory. After hearing them for the first time a couple of years back with We Are the Gods and the EP Come to the Walls I awaited the follow-up with bated breath.

So what Odinfist creates with its brand of heavy metal is a collective of tracks that utilize some familiar, yet musically augmented riffs and scales. They offer some fine music that can appeal to many different fans of varying genres, chief among them the NWOBHM crowd, the power metal group, and the coveted traditional milieu. If you grew up on bands from these sectors, Odinfist will definitely appeal to your taste, and even if you didn’t expand those horizons accordingly. 

While settling into the second go-round with Rest in Glory I’m hearing so many familiar, yet defining elements throughout. When hearing “The Traitor” I hear some casual vocal similarities to a Viking-era Quorthon ala Twilight of the Gods or the Nordland saga with that easy, yet commanding ability. It’s these vocals that can either thrill or annoy you depending on your personal affinities, but they fit the music perfectly and offer a stark and welcome respite from the typical high vocal wailing or growling bellowing. Vocalist/guitarist Tyler Anderson hits some serious highs here and there, but he doesn’t dwell in an overkill stupor anywhere herein; while he isn’t a Kim Bendix Petersen, he also is far from a novice. If forced to classify Odinfist’s genre (a task I so love doing), I’d confidently place them in the power metal camp devoid of all of the keyboard trappings and overuse of wailing vocals about Valhalla. There’s always something to be said for less being more, and what you get here is stripped-bare heavy metal, period.

“The Great Thirst” is a prime example of the variation is song structure that allows the basic theme to remain intact, a variation bands like Hammerfall and that New York loincloth collective can no longer claim today. No two songs sound alike on Rest in Glory, setting a mood that changes ever slightly to accommodate the introspective mind, all the while staying true to the flow of the record. From the chugging and galloping riffs (“Soul Surgery”) that pretty much define the music we so covet to the slow and enchanting “Dream of Light”, this album covers all bases and does so with all of the necessary temerity to produce such a piece. 

The production is pretty good throughout; one of the elements of the CD I really like is the somewhat primitive guitar tone that sounds very retro and ‘thin’ in all of the right spots. It encompasses a genuine antiquity that is befitting the message of the band. Sometimes all things old can and should be new again.

Odinfist has a damn good grasp on the metal jugular without ruining the authenticity of the medium. They manage to detour away from the obvious and forge on their own path with some creatively concise music that’s both fun and taps the mental reserve just enough to keep you informed and entertained. 

What more does one metalhead ask for?

Rating: 8.5 out of 10