“As with so many German metal bands, Iron Savior doesn’t have a kill switch. They’ve been rolling out albums regularly since 1997, completely immune to the shifting tastes and trends in metal. Formed as a classic Euro-power act with legacy ties to the genre’s beginning, founder Piet Sielck has kept his vision and direction very consistent over the band’s 25-plus year voyage, delivering sci-fi-themed power with a heavier, more traditional metal punch and crunch.” Savior complex.
“When the inscrutable beings who rule over the promo sump shackled me to New Zealand’s Bulletbelt, I approached with caution. Formed in 2009, Bulletbelt has operated on a (mostly) biennial release schedule of bog-standard black/thrash albums a la Skeletonwitch. Their line-up has been in a constant state of flux, regularly churning through both vocalists and guitarists, a fact that didn’t exactly inspire much hope for my latest ball and chain.” Bulletbelts to spare.
“A week ago, progressive/technical death metal titans Obscurareleased a well-received album that featured the return of longtime guitarist Christian Münzner. Münzner had left the band in 2014 after developing focal dystonia, an overuse condition that left his fretting hand neurologically compromised. Needing a break from the relentless touring cycle of a band like Obscura, Münzner turned to other projects. Recruiting former Obscura bandmates Linus Klausenitzer and Hannes Grossmann, Münzner formed Eternity’s End with the goal to produce high-quality progressive power metal.” Powerful hobbies.
“Twenty-twenty has been the year of ore. Iron ore, that is. We’ve seen it extracted from the earth, thrown into the blasting furnace, and molded into steel. From that steel, we’ve seen so many swords forged, that it’s practically raining the motherfuckers. There’s Ironsword and Megatron Sword, Possessed Steel and Blood Hails Steel – Steel Hails Fire, to name a few. And it won’t fucking end as long as Steel is fanning the furnace.” Mask ore die.
“Iron Savior may not have started the whole Euro-power genre, but founder/vocalist/guitarist Piet Sielck certainly had his hands on the original putty as a member of the early version of Helloween. Though he never ended up recording with them, you can hear the influence of that protozoic era of power metal in everything Iron Savior does. Since their 1997 debut they’ve consistently churned out quality Euro-power with strong links to classic metal and they’ve always delivered it with more heft and muscle than 99.999% of their frilly be-shirted peers. Skycrest is their 12th platter of metallic anthems to the Metal Godz and things are as they should be.” Iron sharpens other iron.
“Iron Savior can’t be fought, Iron Savior can’t be sought. Brought to life in 1997 by original Helloween frontman Piet Sielck, the band’s made a respectable career for themselves by beefing up the base sound of Piet’s genre-defining former act with traditional and NWoBHM influences, resulting in a gritty, cantankerous hybrid. Kill or Get Killed is their tenth album in this meat n’ fancy taters style, and they sound none the worse for wear after 21 years in the iron trenches.” You can’t kill the olde.
“Lizard Secrets! LIZARD SECRETS! When sifting through the endless pile of gore-drenched and occult-themed album titles in the AMG promo bin, something as adorable as Lizard Secrets immediately stands out. As for Airborn themselves, well, they’ve had a tough time doing the same in the power metal scene over the past twenty two years of their existence, plugging along on a semi-regular release schedule that I had been completely unaware of until I plucked this album from the a(mg)ether.” I toad you that was a secret!
“Just like some albums are growers, you occasionally encounter one that takes time to reveal itself as garbage. It may seem like a potentially good time, but repeat listens magnify all the flaws to the point you can no longer fathom what attracted you in the first place. Not so with Apocalypse 2.0, an ostensibly progressive metal album by Blind Seer. I knew for a fact this was garbage after exactly nine seconds.” Seer the ear.
“It wasn’t so long ago I referenced the basic unkillability of Germanic metal bands, regardless of stature and fame. As if to provide a flying buttress to my argument, along comes Paradox, a classic second tier thrash act from the 80s that are amazingly still functioning some 30 years later despite a paucity of success or notoriety.” Rock hard, rock olde.
“Nothing clings quite so tenaciously to life as a Germanic metal band. Think about it for a moment – all the big names in 80s Kraut thrash are still active, along with nearly all of their 80s power and traditional acts. In essence, Teutonic metal is harder to kill than nail fungus and just as unsightly. Though Iron Savior didn’t come into existence until 97, they’ve proven typically resilient and hard to eradicate.” German metal can’t be stopped, German metal can’t be topped.
