Valkyrian Music

The Lightbringer of Sweden
Rise of The Beast
Released 15th July 2020
Power Metal
Self-Released

’Rise of The Beast’ is the debut album from the power metal band The Lightbringer of Sweden. As the band name suggests, the group hail from Sweden and they have been around since 2017. The line-up includes the German vocalist Herbie Langhans (also of Firewind, Beyond The Bridge and Avantasia live).

Now, when it comes to Swedish power metal the first name that always pops into my head is Sabaton. I can honestly say that I would struggle to name any others, except for Civil War which comprises several former Sabaton members. It’s good to know that there is more to the Swedish power metal scene than just these two bands. For starters The Lightbringer of Sweden sound nothing like their Falun-based brethren. There are no keyboards and Langhans’s vocal style reminds me of Andi Deris of Helloween.

I’m not sure what to make of the intro track ‘The Moon’… Church bells, something burning in background and the narrator’s voice informing you that the beast known as The Lightbringer is here to stay. Good to know, moving swiftly on. What follows is some fairly enjoyable melodic power metal complete with crunchy guitar, good drum work and powerful vocals. What’s not to like? The tempo varies from the mid-paced catchy songs such as Fallen Angels to the slower, ballad-esque title track. One of the highlights for me is ‘Skeletor’, probably my favorite track on here despite the somewhat cheesy lyrics. The chorus is super catchy, the raspy vocals are full of emotion and very well executed and the guitar work is top notch. I also enjoyed Into The Night, another catchy power metal tune. I’m not going to do a track-by-track review, I like some tracks more than others but, generally speaking there are not too many filler songs on here.

Overall, I enjoyed ‘Rise of The Beast’. This is one of the better power metal albums I’ve heard this year. As far as the genre goes, The Lightbringer of Sweden aren’t exactly re-inventing the wheel, but they are good at what they do. If they continue along the same path they will have a bright future ahead of them.

8/10

Iza Raittila

This entry was posted on 18th August 2020 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Review with tags Firewind, Heavy Metal, Power Metal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.