Lancer are back with their third full length album Mastery, filled with everything one would want from a European power metal band.

In what explains the technical ability of the musicians in Lancer, they met at the Music Academy of Ingesund in Arvika, Sweden.  In 2012 the band released the Purple Sky ep which led to a deal with the label Doolittle Group AB, owned by Narnia vocalist Christian Liljegren.  In 2013, the band worked with producers Tommy Johansson (Sabaton) and Ronny Milianowicz (Hammerfall) and released their first full length  album.  The self-titled work was met with critical acclaim and the band’s reputation began to grow to the point they were named by one publication as a new hope for European power metal.  The band’s second album, Second Storm, was released in 2015 on Despotz Records and also was accepted warmly by music critics.  Similar to Second Storm, the band chose to go back into the studio with producer Gustav Ydenius (Sister Sin, Enforcer, Mustasch) for Mastery and in this case signed a deal with Nuclear Blast Records, who reached out to the band.

Lancer waste no time setting the tone for the album, launching straight into the power metal following an opening scream of “Dead Raising Towers” by Isak Stenvall.  Galloping bass lines, driving rhythms, epic vocals, and an obvious preference for guitars driving the song make it easy to pick out Lancer. Often times, power metal songs have a feel as if they are mostly just setting the stage for a screaming guitar solo, and while “Dead Raising Towers” is a bit predictable , the  performances are excellent.  As one would want and expect from power metal, the production is clean and the guitars and vocals come through clearly in the mix. Continue reading »