Iron Savior - The landing 4.5/5
Reviewed: 1-1-12
Tracklist:
1. Descending
2. The savior
3. Starlight
4. March of doom
5. Heavy metal never dies
6. Moment in time
7. Hall of the heroes
8. R.U. ready
9. Faster than all
10. Before the pain
11. No guts, no glory
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After German power metal band Iron Savior released ‘Megatropolis’ back in 2007, the band and also frontman Piet Sielck have gone through a few issues. The biggest issue was the unfortunate demise of Sielck’s promising heavy metal label, Dockyard-1, which had signed bands like Dreamland, Savage Circus, Persuader, Crimson Cult and of course Sielck’s own band, Iron Savior. Sadly some of those bands are yet to sign with another label and all have not released any material since their last CDs with Dockyard-1.
Wondering what the status of Iron Savior was for the last couple of years and hoping that the band would continue on, they suddenly arise from almost out of nowhere, signed with AFM Records and about to release a new CD. More recent news was that bassist Yenz Leonhardt has left the band to concentrate on his 2 other bands, Stormwarrior and Savage Circus; while original Iron Savior bassist Jan Soren Eckert had returned to the band after leaving back in 2002. That means the line-up (minus keyboardist Andreas Kuck) from 2002’s excellent ‘Condition red’ are together again.
So the new release is finally here, 4 years since ‘Megatropolis’, Iron Savior have returned stronger than ever with ‘The landing’. Their 7th full-length CD, ‘The landing’ is one of Iron Savior’s best CD to date, featuring dynamic guitar riffs, excellent songwriting and bombastic harmonies with synths just in the right places. Piet Sielck is also sounding better than ever, with his raspy yet soaring vocals leading the charge on this new CD, and let’s not forget the wonderful backing vocals of all the other members of the band, plus the choir-like chorus’ Iron Savior is renowned for.
Songs are speedy with the intensity at a high pace; just like how true European fantasy power metal should sound like, just with that little sprinkle of cheese that goes with it. Not too much, just that right amount so that it’s kinda noticeable, but doesn’t interfere with the excellent metal music on offer here. Knowing Iron Savior from previous releases, you know what to expect, and ‘The landing’ is no exception to that rule. A high quality CD, with glamorous productions and catchy tracks pumped full of fast riffling from both Sielck and Joachim Kustner and thundering double-bass drumming from the always reliable and exciting Thomas Nack.
One of the biggest of the killer tracks on the CD just has to be the swift and catchy homage to the history of heavy metal, “R.U. ready”. The song not only flows brilliantly, but also contains references to legendary bands and songs from way back when, including Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Steppenwolf and Rainbow. To all those bands who made metal and rock what it is today, we salute you.
Another absolute killer track is Iron Savior’s metal hymn, the sensational “Heavy metal never dies”. Quite melodic and extremely catchy, Sielck’s passionate and almost hypnotic vocals, sends this track to the top, with the soaring and sing-a-long chorus (and the solo) the biggest highlights by far. The pulsating “Hall of the heroes” has that grinding power chord riff that you can’t help but move your head to, and add to that the band choirs in the chorus with Piet’s commanding vocals, synths and a top-notch solo... yep; you’ve got yourself another killer track.
‘The landing’ also has Iron Savior’s old-school signature speedy tracks, with their typical rapid fire guitar riffs, double-bass and piercing vocals. I speak of the great duo “Faster than all” and “March of doom”, which are reminiscent of previous classic tracks like “Eye of the world”, “Riding free” and “Titans of our time”. Rounding out the excellent CD, 2 more songs should get a mention, firstly the bombastic and upbeat “No guts, no glory” and the melodic CD opener (after the intro) “The savior”.
In the end, ‘The landing’ is easily one of Iron Savior’s best releases to date, eclipsing their previous release ‘Megatropolis’ and also ‘Condition red’. 2004’s ‘Battering ram’ in my opinion is very much level pegging to this new CD and is on par with the amount of kick-ass tracks. Always consistent from the very start, you just can’t go wrong with Piet Sielck and the team from Iron Savior. ‘The landing’ is just further proof that they are one of the best headlining European power metal acts in the world today and all fans, not just of the band but also power metal, should jump on this immediately as you won’t regret it.
SEAN
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