By: Tordah

Posted: Mar 13, 2006

Divinefire is a fresh new band hailing from Sweden. The band plays what I like to call brutal power metal and their lyrics revolve around Christianity. This may sound like the worst band ever but thinking so would be a huge mistake. I've been a fan of power metal for a long time and I've always wanted to hear more power metal bands blend their sound with the more extreme genres of the metal-realm. Divinefire incorporates elements of melodic death metal into their fast-paced power metal as well as orchestrations of epic proportions to create something that put bands like Rhapsody and Avantasia to shame. The first time I heard Divinefire was almost a religious experience to me (bad pun intended). Divinefire's debut "Glory Thy Name" blew me away with its heavy sound and impressive compositions. I instantly fell in love with the album and eagerly anticipated their next opus. Luckily, I had heard the debut quite late so the wait was not long for me until the sophomore album was released.

"Hero" continues where "Glory Thy Name" left off with bombastic symphonic elements, soaring vocals, fast double-bass drumming, awesome guitar-solos and the occasional death growl. These are the trademark traits of Divinefire that make them stand out in the crowd. Like I mentioned earlier the production is very heavy compared to your average power metal band. Before the vocals enter in the intro track one could easily mistake this for a melodic death metal album. The guitar-sound is dark and vicious and Jani Stefanovic has plenty of good and melodic riffs in his repertoire. Shredding the guitar is not the only thing he does in Divinefire though. He also did the drumming, keyboards and programming. Quite impressive. Behind the mic we have Christian Rivel of Narnia fame. Those familiar with Narnia know that he has a very special and sincere voice. He sings very well here as well and his soaring vocals contrast the music nicely and add a lot of depth and warmth. There is also some cool backing choirs here and there but unfortunately none as cool as those in 'Never Surrender' from the first album. On the bass we have Andreas Olsson but he is drowned out completely in the production so I can't comment much on it. But when was the last time you could actually hear the bass in a power metal album? Yeah, that’s what I thought. The symphonic elements are astonishing and some of the best I've ever heard - regardless of genre. Slight classical influences can be heard but overall it sounds quite original, and most importantly, it sounds very metal and non-cheesy. The orchestrations don’t sound forced or misplaced either. They really succeeded in balancing the different instruments here.

After getting tired of bands like Dragonforce with their wimpy video game alike sound Divinefire seems like a minor revolution in the power metal genre. I really hope they will continue to make good albums and hopefully inspire some new bands to dare break out of the standard power metal formula and be creative. Divinefire has proved twice now that they're one of the best and interesting power metal bands in the scene right now. "Hero" may not have the same impact on me as "Glory Thy Name" had but it still remains a very good album. The albums are nearly identical in sound and shape and it's basically just more of the same stuff. The only complaint I have is the slower and mellower song 'United As One' which feels kinda boring compared to the other blazing anthems. "Glory Thy Name" had the same problem with 'Pay It Forward' which seemed to drag on way too long. The songs I enjoyed the most are 'Secret Weapon', 'New Beginning' and the title track. The last track on the album is a cover of 'The Show Must Go On' which features the guest vocalists Thomas Vikström and Maria Rådsten. A very good and epic version of the old Queen classic. Overall a solid and highly enjoyable album.

Rating: 8/10

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