Iron Fire – Among The Dead
Crime Records
Released: September 16th
Review by: Matt Barton
‘Denmark’s finest power metal band’ is certainly a unique title to hold. But with sixteen years, and now album number eight under their belt, you can understand why Iron Fire hold that banner.
Among The Dead, the title of the band’s latest effort and their first with new label Crime Records, definitely plays on how massive the zombie genre has become of late, and opener Intro (The Lost City) plays along with that; depicting an LA news report during a zombie apocalypse. It’s certainly a fun way to kick the album off.
Next, we’re into the title track and what a track it is! Very Lordi-esque in sound to begin with, it quickly adopts into a metal anthem that will be playing in your head for days. Frontman Martin Steene quickly shows us his brilliant range, flowing from power metal highs to death growl lows seamlessly. As the album progresses, those death growls become too infrequent, which is a shame because they actually add something to the record. Tracks like Iron Eagle and No Sign of Life have a very Helloween type of sound. But of course, which power metal album isn’t heavily influenced by the German metal giants?
The album officially ends with a very eighties-esque ballad When The Lights Go Out. Unfortunately, Steene’s vocals feel the weakest on this track, which slows the tempo of the album down a little. His vocals are definitely more of a stand-out on the faster tracks. Luckily, the band included a bonus track – and quite a risky one I might add. Metallica‘s For Whom The Bell Tolls is a universally loved metal classic and it’s an extremely risky move to cover it on this album. But you know what? It works. And it actually helps save the album from an otherwise disappointing end. Not only do they do the song justice, they put a very Iron Fire slant to it. Oh, and this record is also getting released on cassette. So to all you old school rockers who still own a tape deck, make sure you check that out!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlyQ4kqmx9I&w=560&h=315]
