My admiration for Power Metal knows no boundaries. You know this by now, constant reader. So when I saw the promo for Valkyrie’s Fire I knew I had to hear it.
Straight away I’m over here thinking these guys are European… they’re not. They hail from the hub of all things American Power Metal: Nashville, TN. Be that as it may, these guys have a very firm grasp of what top-notch Power Metal should sound like, and they pound that knowledge home with a large hammer.
There’s the intro; here it’s called “In Spirit, in Shadow”, and it’s a lush, keyboard-laden affair. It sets the tone of the album perfectly before “Evermore” comes galloping out of the speakers. It’s got a bit of a Demons and Wizards vibe to it that isn’t unwelcome. But then they do tracks like the Within Temptation -y “Valkyrie’s Fire” and “Cascade”, here and now I’m going to shout this out loud… Bettie Floyd can fucking sing! But then, she already knows that, and now you do.
I’ve never mentioned Within Temptation in a review, so that is a first for me. However, “Burning Sky” has more in common with Disembodied Tyrant or the Zenith Passage. There’s slamming and guttural vocals, and it really has nothing to do with the rest of the album at all.
Which brings me to album length. 01:11:06 is a bit longer than my attention span allows for, and while Out of Darkness is a fun Power Metal album… it’s fucking long. There’s enough material for a good-sized EP, plus a full-length to boot. Sometimes less is more. This goes for any genre of music, so I’m not just picking on these guys.
“Shattered”, “I See the Angels Fly” and “Skylark” sort of blow by pretty quickly. They’re all good songs, bordering on ballad status for a couple of tracks, as well. There are so many killer riffs on Out of Darkness that it’s hard to keep track.
The production is spot on, and the artwork is killer. I want to get that out there for a debut album; this ticks all the boxes.
Now back to the songs because there are still five more songs to talk about… yeah, that’s right… five more. As I said, this is a long album and, usually, this many songs can be found on a Grindcore record; but then those songs are usually running around the two-to four-minute mark. These are some hefty tracks, clocking in at around five to seven minutes long.
“Labyrinth” has a bit of a Kamelot vibe to it, as does “Bone and Thorn” and even “Dark Moon”.There are galloping riffs and even some competent thrash-style drumming that keeps things interesting. “Nocturne” and “I Will Rise Again” finish the album off with a suitably grandiose flourish.
Valkyrie’s Fire has unleashed a monster of an album. Overly ambitious, perhaps, but it’s a solid Power Metal record that deserves your time and attention. If you’re a fan of Kamelot, Within Temptation, or something along those lines, then you’ll be in the right place. Go get Out of Darkness.
