Lancer
Second Storm
Power/Speed metal
Release Date: 10 April 2015
Via Despotz Records
LANCER bring us something enjoyable and exciting with this new record ”Second Storm”. Following in the footsteps of other Swedish giants such as Hammerfall and Sabaton, Lancer have made something that I have found to be captivating and fun. With the same imagination that made the original metal sounds great, “Second Storm” is full of great riffs and fantastic melodies with influence taken from Iron Maiden and Helloween. So before I go into any great detail let this be the underlying statement of this review. I love this record.
The album opens up nicely with tunes like “Running From The Tyrant”, “Masters and Crowns”, which are really catchy and fun tunes and outline what I love about this album. It’s just fun. The riffs are fun, solos are fun and the tone is fun. It’s that old school sound that I’m partial to and I’m sure many other metal fans are too. The guitar work is great, with solos that make you want to air guitar the night away and riffs that make you want to headbang. I have a feeling that the band just wanted to make something that would fit in those early days of metal, with lyrics about tyrants, revolt and rebellion. Needless to say that it should keep old-school metal fans satisfied.
The next tune I feel is worth highlighting is “Aton”, a monster of a tune with a solid based riff and one killer solo. I think this maybe my favourite song on the record, with its twists and turns from being heavy and well balanced, to being wild and energised in the solo and, suddenly, moving to this smooth and mellow part like a ballad. To say the least, it goes all over the place, but I feel this tune shows of the ability of the band. It just mixes all their best elements into one big tune. It really is amazing.
Another good point worth mentioning is the production quality. It’s pretty damn good, I mean it’s well balanced and fun to listen to. I mean they could have made this guitar centric, which it sort of is, but it keeps everything together in one package. The vocals are well defined and the bass lines are beautiful, all this framed by the great drum work. Loving this sound so much.
In summary, I absolutely love this album. It feels like the sort of music I grew up with. If you’re a fan of Iron Maiden, Gamma Ray, or, you know, heavy metal – get this album, you will not be sorry.
5/5
Mick Birchall
Valkyrian Music 