A highly melodic and enjoyable take on Heavy Metal.
My good friend, colleague and Reviews Editor Paul Jerome Smith, was very surprised that this new album ‘The Landing’ by German melodic metal merchants Iron Savior, was my first introduction to the band. I pointed out that in a world where there are many such acts plying their metallic trade, you just couldn’t listen to everyone who comes along. Yet having this reviewer’s role gives me an opportunity to catch up and listen to lots of bands that I have previously missed. ‘The Landing’ is actually a great place for me to start with the music of Iron Savior, as it’s a heavy, powerful, melodic and above all else highly entertaining slice of metal, and I would describe my first foray into the music of the band as a blast.
Like a lot of Teutonic metal you can hear the influences of Helloween, Primal Fear, Blind Guardian and Gamma Ray running through the music, and seeing as they were founded by some members of those bands, that is only natural. Yet with their own sound winning out over them all, Iron Savior have recorded with this album such a strong set of songs that they have a cracker of a metal release on their hands. ‘The Savior’ is a heavy melodic cut, filled with striking guitar breaks and a Blind Guardian like vocal melody that I just loved, ‘Starlight’ follows and the guitar riff reminded me a lot of ‘Blackout’ era Scorpions (although heavier) and with a big catchy chorus that I found myself singing along to, I soon decided that I was fast becoming an Iron Savior fan.
‘Heavy Metal Never Dies’ as you would expect with its title, has a lot of Judas Priest references, though the keyboards that weave their way through the track are a really nice touch and help the track to gain its own identity. ‘Faster Than All’ is a full in your face metal song that strikes like a heavyweight boxer who keeps on pummelling at your senses looking for that knockout blow. The metal mayhem of ‘Moment In Time’ follows and what a barnstormer of a cut it is, the song grabs you by the scruff of the neck and shakes you until you beg for mercy; great stuff! Lastly there’s ‘R.U. Ready’, another catchy song with a big hook that reminded me a lot of the wonderful Saxon. especially on the guitar riff.
Iron Savior is another first for me and I got a lot of pleasure from listening to the band and their new album. They brought a huge smile to my face with their highly melodic and enjoyable take on Heavy Metal. The only problem now is that I’ll have to rob the piggy bank to buy the back catalogue… Oh well!
Ian Johnson
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