It doesn’t take very long in the presence of German/Czech metallers Induction to know largely what to expect from their brand-new album Born From Fire (Atomic Fire). From the striking album cover even to the opening bars alone, you know this is going to be a largely bombastic Power Metal affair (even if it is your, ahem, induction to the genre). Upon hearing the full album, do these first impressions remain valid?
The answer is a resounding yes. Mostly.
Album opener, the title-track, is an impactful opener which is full pace from the offset, armed with fast paced, soaring guitar leads and Craig Cairns’ towering vocals in a heartening, uplifting display. It is a very typical opening salvo and one that really delivers as an early highlight. Following this ‘Scorched’ commences with some orchestration and follows in a very similar vein to its predecessor with an equal larger than life presence until the midpoint curveball where it reveals a darker streak; replete with a harsher vocal delivery.
From this point there is some further nuance and added elements within their sound although it still largely matches with the initial Power Metal impressions. ‘Fallen Angel’ proves very reminiscent of Beast In Black in its delivery and synth led nods to eighties hair etal whereas ‘Order & Chaos’ hints at a bleaker, gothic tone in its opening bars.
Born From Fire quickly shows some excellent and instantaneous moments very early on, unfortunately it doesn’t quite ride this momentum all the way through. Bar some subtle elements here and there, there is little deviation throughout and towards the latter half, it sadly drops in quality and begins to drag through its nearly sixty-minute run time.
Sometimes it is abundantly clear what you are going to get from an album very early on and whilst that is certainly not a negative on its own, such expectation calls for results to be delivered. Born From Fire sadly does not hit the mark for its entirety, but there are certainly enough moments of brilliance to make this worth at least a look.
Buy the album here:
https://music.atomicfire-records.com/sacrifice
6 / 10
CHRIS TIPPELL