Review by Adam M on March 14, 2023.

This album is classic heavy metal to the highest degree possible. It is a high-pitched affair of the highest order. The songs here exude a very Manilla Road type appeal that is very difficult to ignore. The melodies are outstanding and exude an old school flavor that is very catchy. This is a very difficult to copy sound, but this band does a pretty good job emulating it. It is appropriate that this album fills in the need for this type of an album at this time of the year. 

The musicianship is very pristine and features guitar riffs that are squealing in the right classic metal tone. Also, the vocalist is high-pitched and suits the music well with his register. The drumming isn’t quite as powerful as the rest of the music, but does a good job backing up the band. All in all the musicians do a fine job emulating the old school sound, but they still fail to rise from above the ashes and put all else to shame. This is because this style has been heard many times before and is difficult to top. 

All in all this was a very solid attempt at the classic sound. It could use a greater focus on beating out the bands of the past, because the band somewhat gets lost in the mire and loses its charm. This leads to an album that could have been the greatest classic metal album around, but is instead just another solid entry to the genre instead of magnificent. It thus needs more of a focus on making the melodies shine brighter and bringing the whole thing to a climactic peak. Instead, we are left with an album that is still very strong, but not the greatest the genre has seen. There are Manilla Road albums I would gladly put on before this, but it does do the job quite effectively. 

Rating: 7 out of 10