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IRON FIRE – VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED (7)
If there was an annual award for stoic enthusiasm and endurance, then Dutch power/speed metal quartet Iron Fire would win it every year. Looking like the next big thing in their early career, they were snatched up by a record company, and then suffered a mind-boggling series of line-up changes before being ditched by their label. However, Iron Fire are nothing if not persistent and have followed up their previous six albums with ‘Voyage Of The Damned’, a testament to the rewards of sacrifice and self-belief.
There are threads of Iron Fire’s  early and more extreme heavy metal/doom roots laced in to the band’s power metal theatrics. The record starts with a sucker-punch (‘Enter Oblivion OJ-666’) born from the gloomy soundtrack-esque, ‘The Dark Beyond’. Thundering drums, wild synths and rhythmic guitars, under-pinned by resonant bass provide a base of solid power metal topped with touches of heavier influences, including a variety of vocal styles. Tracks like ‘Leviathan’ and ‘Realm Of Madness’ have memorably meatier riffs, and turn the spotlight on to Iron Fire’s range of songwriting abilities.
‘Voyage Of The Damned’ is a power metal record but there is no overwhelming candy-stuffed pomp, nor an abundance of warbled vocals. There is enough to appease fans of the genre but it doesn’t dominate; there is too much of an ensemble repertory at work here, filling the mind with a plethora of metal sub-genres, skilfully executed and produced with masterful finesse. Iron Fire were once considered a band to watch out for and it would seem, with the release of ‘Voyage Of The Damned’, they are so once again.
Reviewed by Annette Simmonds
Voyage Of The Damned is out now on Napalm
You’ll like this if… you like Helloween and Hammerfall. |
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