After 5 years, Greek Power Metal machine Firewind is back with a new album, Immortals (Century Media). In that time guitarist Gus G has been touring with Ozzy Osbourne, and the band has gone through another line-up change, with Henning Basse now admirably fulfilling the role of vocalist.

The theme for this album is the famous standoff between the Spartans and the Persians, and the slow-paced ‘Ode to Leonidas,’ with its narrated introduction, brings home the band’s Greek heritage – just in case the album cover hadn’t tipped you off. Immortals covers quite a lot of musical ground, varying from the instrumental speed metal of the title track, through the deliciously classical heavy metal of ‘Back on the Throne,’ to the lovely power ballad ‘Lady of a 1000 Sorrows.’ ‘Live and Die by the Sword,’ on the other hand, has a somewhat Arthurian energy to it, mixed in with the ever present high-octane power-metal. Jo Nunez shows some excellent drumming skills on this album, and this song in particular is a good example of that.

The album impresses from the very start, where ‘Hands of Time’ exposes vocals with a hardness similar to that of Russel Allen of Symphony X, and a balance of synth and guitar solos reminiscent of the Sonata Arctica of old. The overall effect is every bit the power metal anthem. ‘Warriors and Saints’ has a similar anthemic quality, and especially the arpeggios behind the sing-along chorus give it a limitless energy. This band certainly knows how to tie a song together, as witnessed in the unrelentingly powerful ‘We Defy,’ where the ascending licks from the chorus merge seamlessly into the initial section of the solo and the outro. The album started strong, and it finished on exactly that level, with the impressive ‘Rise from the Ashes,’ without ever losing focus.

If this album is anything to go by, 2017 could be a very interesting year for power metal, as Firewind have produced a heavy, proggy, and all-around fun power metal album.

8.5/10

 LORRAINE LYSEN