A year ago, in 2019 Iron Savior released a strong album Kill Or Get Killed with conventional for this band sci-fi lyrics and blending of Heavy and Power Metal. And now, in the end of 2020 here comes a new, 13th album named Skycrest.
“During the production of Skycrest the fortune put a few spokes in the wheel, in form of a pandemic and a serious illness of our bassist Jan (who, thank God, has now completely recovered). That facts certainly rubs off (сказывается, перепадает, передаётся) on the creative process, but does not focus on the negative events. On the contrary, it binds the band together a good deal more, – says guitarist and frontman Piet Sielck, – […] During the lockdown I´ve had a lot of time, but I couldn’t manage anything creatively. I just didn’t manage to write great lyrics and positive songs in this heavy times. I also didn’t want this depressive “Corona mood” to appear on the album. We don’t live in Seattle and do tune our guitars, so Depression is not us. I still had to motivate and discipline myself strongly, but then things went smoothly, the ideas and the enthusiasm returned. I allowed the positive energies much more to happen than the negative ones. So the bottom line is that Iron Savior is and will remain positive and uplifting.” And that’s true.
Skycrest opens with short rousing instrumental “The Guardian”, which is changing with self-titled “Skycrest” – a German Power Metal in all its best, with mighty drums, fast riffs and recognizable Piet’s raspy vocals. The chorus is full of pathos, of course and even tries to become a Metal opera a bit (Space Metal opera in case of Iron Savior). Next one, “Our Time Has Come” continues this atmosphere: potent bass and good riff interwoven here with pretentious keyboards; melodic chorus is also worth to mention. “Silver Bullet”, one of the fastest songs in the album, also sounds as a good Power Metal, with double pedal, heavy guitar sound and catchy bridges with choruses. And “There Can Be Only One”, which refers to the “Highlander” movie, sounds more like Sabaton, as for me because of abundance of keyboards and heavy, catchy chorus.
“Souleater” in its turn is a Teutonic Heavy Metal with powerful sound, smooth verse and straightforward melody. “Hellbreaker” slowing the pace but still keeps the might and pathos. The combination of Heavy riff and Piet’s vocal here is great, by the way. Dynamic “End Of The Rainbow” sounds more like 80s Heavy with modern sound and “Raise The Flag” pretends to be a new anthem: “Raise the flag of Heavy Metal!” – do I need to add something to this?
In dramatic and inspiring ballad “Ease Your Pain” we can hear the voice of Jan S. Eckert, Iron Savior‘s bassist – in a way it’s a story about him: he had a fight with COVID-19 and won.
Skycrest ends with heavy and fast-paced “Ode To The Brave”, which sounds especially good against the previous song. Everything is heavy here: the vocals, the drums and guitars. But at the same time this song has great melody and catchy chorus – a good way to finish the album.
“Skycrest got what it takes to become another milestone in the Iron Savior history. Time will tell.” – states Piet carefully. Of course as a creator he knows better, but if you ask me, I haven’t seen some drastic changes or experiments. This album is still full of mighty and melodic Heavy/Power Metal, played and recorded by true professionals. But at the same time I can’t say this album is remarkably different from some previous works. It’s typical (or “another one” if you want) Iron Savior album with all inherent advantages and disadvantages.
Skycrest was released in December, 4th via AFM Records.
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