The modern power metal legends are back this Friday with their highly anticipated new album. Not only is it a follow-up to 2023’s Return to the Kingdom of Fife, but it seems to be a direct sequel to 2015’s much loved Space 1992. Now, long time readers here will know that I have a bit of an up-down relationship with the band, having loved them during Thomas Winkler’s run but struggling a little when they switched singers with their last album. Still, the singles I’ve heard from this so far are great, so I’m curiously excited to dive in and see what the album as a whole is like!

A grandiose, pretty long intro track sets the epic tone perfectly and expertly blends into the lead single from the album, ‘Ultimate Sacrifice’. The track itself explodes in with a huge, heavy riff and a fast pace set by drummer Ralathor (Ben Turk). The synths and keys from band leader Zargothrax (Chris Bowes) give the sound so much depth and size too, it feeling massive from the outset. Soon enough the powerful vocals come in from new-ish comer Sozos Michael, fitting over the top of the instrumentation perfectly and instantly having a catchy energy to them. The chorus is absolutely massive and even more catchy, the harmonies and gang vocals adding so much to it all. It’s immediately a hook that is going to be stuck in my head for days to come! The spoken word bit in the bridge continues the story of their band excellently, and we get a brief, awesome technical solo to follow it. It’s an awesome song in its own right, being exactly what Gloryhammer are all about, and was a great choice for a single as well as an opening track!

Album track ‘On a Quest for Aberdeen’ continues the same vibes as the opener perfectly. It’s another excellent modern power metal track, with all the trappings and glorious cheesiness. It’s a pretty similar formula to the previous track too, with a more simple verse and a huge, multi-vocalled, catchy as anything chorus. The vocals in the bridge were great, the harmonies working even harder as the notes push up to an impressive register, somehow feeling like it builds the track even more! And, we get another fantastic solo from Ser Proletius (Paul Templing), the harmonised second half being particularly excellent and memorable, though the whole part gets plenty of breathing room this time! It’s another awesome song, so massive and catchy!

Onto another single next with ‘Die with a Sword in My Hand’. And, what do you know, it’s another similar, grandiose power metal track! It certainly still works though, especially this early on the album! The chorus is fun too, more chanted than a big harmony-filled one, making it a sure-fire fan-favourite live. It also has maybe my favourite solo on the album, the tone on the guitar being so good. It’s another good song; exactly what you’d expect from the band and another good single choice!

By ‘Silver Talon’ I did start getting slightly tired of the same style, pace and lyrics for a fourth straight song. It’s a damn good song in its own right, and very enjoyable in isolation. Hell, it even fits perfectly with the rest of the album, in terms of both sound and theming. But my easily-distracted brain and ears could have done with something slightly different by the time this track rolled around, especially when we’re getting closer to the midpoint of the album.

I got a little bit of my wish with the following track, single ‘Starfighters of Leuchars’. While it still has some heavy guitars and drums, it does feel like a slower song overall. And, I really loved the Danny Elfman vibe to it with the synths and horns and backing vocals. It made the track a LOT of fun. Yet, it still fits in perfectly with the album and bands discography as a whole, the chorus being absolutely huge and another big earworm. It feels like it’s designed to be played to huge festival crowds around the world! I think Sozos gets the most chance to shine vocally on this track too, really showing off his phenomenal range. It’s another awesome song, and one that easily makes our playlist!

Single ‘Warriors of Auchtermuchty’ brings us back to the bands typical sound again, though certainly in a catchy way with another huge chorus and some call-and-response vocals in the verses. The same can be said for ‘Pax Galactica’, though it does have a touch of Elfman to it like ‘Starfighters’ did. Both are good songs in their own right, and once again fit the album well, but are certainly similar to others on the release. If you are big into their sound though, I’m sure you’ll love it!

The final three tracks are generally more of the same. ‘Demonic Devotion’ and ‘Hammer of Fate’ are your typical Gloryhammer album tracks. However, the closer (with a stupidly long title that I’m not going to type out), is proggy epicness, and a lot of fun! Don’t get me wrong, it has all the hallmarks of the bands sound, but it’s all dialled up to 11 and everything gets so much time to shine. The storytelling throughout is excellent, as is the playing and the vocals, while the composition is truly off the charts. Hell, we even get some screams tucked away in the middle here, which were a nice touch and broke everything up well! Don’t get me wrong, it’s still pretty cheesy, but you know exactly what to expect when heading into a Gloryhammer album, and this is very much all of that. I had a good time with it, and it sums up and closes out the release rather perfectly!

Overall: This is a good album! I know I have mentioned a bit of the negatives towards it I’ve felt, but that shouldn’t take away how great a release it is overall. It’s exactly what you’d expect and want from a Gloryhammer album: straight up epic modern power metal, and on that it absolutely delivers. If you are a fan of that style I’d absolutely recommend giving this a listen, ASAP! There are some tracks on here that are honestly career highlights, even if I wouldn’t necessarily spin the album as a whole every listen. It’s a dam solid addition to their growing discography, and I at least enjoyed it more than their previous one!

The Score: 7.5/10