Power Paladin – With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel
Release Date: 7th January 2022
Label: Atomic Fire Records
Order/Stream
Genre: Power Metal
FFO: Helloween, Hammerfall, Blind Guardian, Iron Maiden.
Review By: Kira L. Schlechter
While Iceland is as Nordic as they come, it’s still not the metal hotbed that countries like Finland, Sweden, and Norway are. Power Paladin is going to change that big time with their auspicious debut, “With the Magic of Wyndfire Steel.”
Singer Atli Guðlaugsson, guitarists Ingi Porrison and Bjarni Por Johansson, bassist Krystleifur Porsteinsson, keyboardist Bjarni Egill Ögmundsson, and drummer Einar Karl Juliusson are really (REALLY) into fantasy games and books, so the lyrics might be a bit “Inside Baseball” if you’re not of that persuasion (or if you are, but just not the ones they’re into).
And I’m a lyrics person. I’m all about the deeper meaning, the nuance, the societal commentary. But sometimes you just need to sing splendid lines like “Guardians of Evermore/We sail across the sky/With wings of an eagle/Fly on, we’re heading high” at the top of your lungs. It’s good for the soul, dammit! In the hands of Power Paladin, the seemingly ridiculous becomes the sublime.
So when the supremely energetic opener, “Kraven the Hunter,” refers to “The gaze of Morlun lighting” (he’s a villain from the Spider-Man series), the line in the chorus, “Eight legged webs and swinging power” then makes perfect sense. With a main riff eerily reminiscent of Maiden’s “Fear of the Dark” (a riff they play with intriguingly in the long but never boring solo section, to which they add a smidgen of flamenco-style acoustic guitar), and featuring Atli’s appealing rasp (and sky-high scream), plus some effective vocal overdubbing in the chorus, this makes for a promising start.
“Righteous Fury” is a bit medieval at the outset with a mandolin-sounding guitar riff, lifting into a sprightly tempo before propelling into a headlong gallop. The harsh vocal between choruses that warns, “You’ve chosen the path that will lead to your death/Your entrails will boil at the touch of my poisonous breath” is perfect, as are lines like “The long arm of the law brings imposters to heel” and “The darkness succumbs to my holy steel of might” – it’s power metal, come on! The solo section here, as before, might be a bit long, but it’s engaging and joyous, filled with effortless tempo changes and Einar’s light-footed, unoppressive drumming. And the reference to “Wings of Elunia” in the stirring chorus could be a reference to Aria Elunia, a character in the “Final Fantasy” video game series, but who really cares – you want and need that chorus every time they give it to you.
Sweet, soft piano and strings on a tender, mournful melody last long enough at the start of “Evermore” to make an impact before the pummelling tempo grabs everything by the scruff and takes off. The two verses differ a bit from each other, which is a sophisticated touch, and it does get pretty Maiden again between the verses. A shorter solo section is marked by some skilled lone guitar work (that is, no harmony) and a pleasingly bouncy swing. Their now-trademark vocal overdubbing marks the pre-chorus and another irresistible chorus.
A slithery Middle Eastern melody on acoustic at the start of “Way of Kings” transforms to electric and pops up throughout to separate the verses. It’s your typical tale of good (“we are the defenders of the light”), who have destiny and eternity on their side, versus evil (“Unholy forces from the shade”). The ever-optimistic chorus features a manly base of layered harmony vocals, with Atli’s higher-octave take slicing across the top like a well-honed blade.
The long but scene-setting intro of “Dark Crystal” features everything from the toll of church bells to a measured tread of a rhythm with suspenseful pauses to several tempo shifts that borrow from Priest and Hammerfall before the hectic verse tempo ensues. As expected from the title, it draws its plot from the 1982 film of the same name and uses touches of harsh vocals to hint at impending doom (in lines like “rise of the elves” and “wisdom of podlings” and “magical forests”). Atli barrels through the verses, blurting out the words as fast as he can to get to the end of each line, which he delivers in a piercing wail. The chorus is just about childish in its super-simple rhyme (“Glorious/Rise victorious/Shine euphorious”), all the better to sing along to, and the charming pattering drumming adds to its appeal, as does the supple-voiced female singer who does the last line (she also sings the prechorus). And when she rises above the harmony voices in a descant in the final take, it’s luminous.
As all the songs do, “Ride the Distant Storm” begins with a guitar flourish, but this time, it gets a wee bit muddy when the uber-speedy drumming is added (it’s not really cleared up the second time around, sadly). The verses have this neat little technique where Atli sings the first line, then there’s a little line of music almost as commentary or even another “lyric,” then he sings a line, then the final line of the verse is overdubbed. It’s really clever. And again, the solo goes on a bit, but there’s plenty to chew on (bursts of stop-and-start rhythm, little guitar triplets, and some classical-esque piano and keyboard work). This is 100 percent Hammerfall inspired, especially in the second verse (“Champions heeding the warrior’s call/As we hear the hammer fall”…well, yeah!), the second pre-chorus (“Sanctified wrath of the templars reborn), and the call for justice that is the chorus.
“Creatures of the Night” just might be the track of the album for a lot of reasons. With its Vincent Price-ish spoken word intro, you know you’re in for a horror-movie type storyline, and the dark, meaty main riff is suitably evil-sounding. Atli lulls you into security with his crooning vocal in the moody, atmospheric verses that warn of “Stories of horror untold” and “Unholiest creatures of hell/Blasphemous monsters of the night.” The tone on the pre-chorus is just divine, round and ringing, before it dives into the wailing chorus where the big bad, the “death destroyer,” is finally revealed by Atli’s terrified shriek. And the solo section is also the best one on the record, taking the main riff and modulating it before the whole thing empties out to a drippy, bluesy segment, touched with organ, that fades away to almost nothing before building back up to that riff and a slew of huge chords.
The longest track at seven and a half minutes, “Into the Forbidden Forest” is also a great example of the band’s careful songwriting – the memorable riff melody introduces each verse/chorus section, then a variation of that melody, different but similar, leads into the bridge. Atli thoroughly inhabits this character, his voice wistful at the start (“And for so many years/I’ve longed to see my home”), rising in hope in the pre-chorus and the chorus, where he knows “the end is nigh” (and it’s another sing-along that’s made by that scurrying drumming and judicious overdubbing). But trouble arises in the second verse, and the chorus switches to a plea for deliverance, which comes in the cinematic, majestic orchestral bridge as we meet our hero, “the line of Aelder’s own” (perhaps referencing the Warhammer video games). It’s touch-and-go, though (“Where do we go/Has he forsaken us”), and the 6/8 tempo and choir vocals reflect that tension, before the final chorus, which now is a prayer of thanksgiving. Really well done.
A piano and bass intro, as restrained as everything else has been balls-out, is the wonderful opening to the closing track, “There Can Be Only One,” the band’s impressive musical talent on full display. It’s the way they work with melody that stands out yet again, especially in the verses; it’s subtle but apparent at the same time. There’s a fabulous lead-in to the chorus that they only do once – the second chorus is preceded by a solo section that grows and swells until you can’t take it any more, which makes the chorus itself pop even more. And that chorus is stratospherically high, nigh on falsetto, but not unpleasant, and it really gets across that message of optimism (“Fly far away tonight … As we wait upon the end, we’re coming home”). It’s not a happy ending – “we may never return,” Atli says – but it’s a beautiful one, as orchestration on a variation of the chorus melody drifts into a string section of the same.
(5 / 5)
