The Italian power parody metal band have gained a lot of momentum and a cult following over the last few years, including us here at Overtone! Not only did we love their last album, but had the pleasure of seeing a lot of it live, too. So, to say expectations around this EP are pretty high would be a bit of an understatement. Still, I have no doubt the band will deliver, and am excited to dive in and check it out!
The (I guess) title track opens things up in pretty epic, Nanowar fashion. Some great vocals, backed by some ambient sounds, builds rather perfectly, especially when the guitars and drums come in. The band immediately infuse the comedy too, fitting in far too many words and syllables and getting a chuckle out of me. Still, the lyrics are fantastic though, and it instantly gives Iron Maiden history teacher vibes! It all builds to an awesome Egyptian-style, heavy riff, and we even get a return of some screams from them for the first time in a while, sounding awesome. A typically massive chorus is another high point of the song, firmly routing the band in their power metal roots, still. And of course, we get some awesome soloing in the middle, showing off why Mohammed is one of the most underrated players around today. It’s silly, epic and fantastic in a way that really only Nanowar can!
To my shock, ‘Feet & Greet’ immediately changes the tone, leaning more into an electronic-based intro, giving off not just industrial metal vibes, but clearly very much inspired by Rammstein. It also features some fantastic screams from the incredible Mikael Sehlin of Amaranthe. He fits the band and sound like a glove, and I love the alternating between them and the cleaner, robotic vocals. And, of course, it’s got another infectiously catchy chorus, one that I immediately want to see live! The lyrics are as silly as you’d expect from the band, and honestly that bridge had me laughing out loud. It’s another absolutely incredible song, and one that easily makes this years playlist!
‘IRIDE’ changes pace a little again, fully leaning into the cheesy power metal stuff. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some heavy Priest in there, but it’s much more Dragonforce. Not that any of that is a bad thing! It’s the closest to their older music, I’d say, but it’s still a damn good song. If you like a more straight-forward sound, this is definitely a song for you! Then the closing track, ‘Kotlin’, stays power metal, but a lot more Sabaton in its tone. It’s another fun track, but isn’t quite as quirky as the first two. They’re just different, and it’s great that Nanowar can do both so well! They’re also both so damn catchy!
Overall: This is an awesome little release! All four songs are awesome, with the first two being up there with anything they’ve put out recently. I’m impatiently waiting another full-length release from them, but this is very much a great way to fill the time before that happens. If you are at all into the band power metal in general, check this out, as they are far more than just a comedic band at this point! And truly, we now cannot get another Genghis Khan EP.
The Score: 8/10