By: Anders

Posted: Sep 13, 2005

This Swedish band is a new acquaintance to me, melodic and ripping power metal, more German sounding than anything else. Tons of classic reference, freshness and "here we come" attitude, these boys wanna conquer the world and they wanna do it fast!

The band delivers their tunes very precise and enthusiastic and with sheer power. The force of the 5 guys are incredible, the guitar-play is slaying. Very classic heavy/power metal riffing, though the drive behind it is great. The great melodic twin leads are great, and makes one think of the time when Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were best. There is a fair amount of good solos during the album as well. The rhythm section is damn tight and holds the music in check. The bass is interesting and is nice and audible. The drumming is good, pretty straight forward, good beats and a nice display of variation and the dry double bass drumming is very fitting.

The vocals are one of the clear highlights on this album, a really good and passionate scream. The singer possesses a nice range and register, and he sounds good all the time. He surely has many strings to play on, and he uses many of them, again a nice and varied performance.

This is a very impressive album from Cryonic Temple, the third in the row of hopefully many more, if they can keep the standard from this one! This should be a sure hit for fans of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, heavy and power metal in general. Killer musicians, good song writing, catchy and slaying. This could go and become a classic in time. Run down to your local dealer and demand to hear this album. I can recommend 'When Hell Freezes Over', 'Beast Slayer', 'Mr. Gold', 'Wolfcry' and 'Shark Attack' as the ones that'll kick your ass hardest!

Rating: 8½/10

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