As if to convince us that 2020 was not all bad, Iron Savior have released their latest album, Skycrest, which shows the band in the same peak form that we’ve all come to expect…. Power metal filled with blazing guitars, epic vocals and great hooks.
Now on their 14 th album, the band formed in 1996 by Piet Sielck and other ex-Helloween members, Iron Savior has rightfully been placed among the legends of metal. While the lineup around Piet has changed over the years, the quality of the musicianship has not wavered and the band’s sound which to my ears combines the NWOBHM with other metal greats remains a constant. Once again, for Skycrest, the overall sound was polished to a metal perfection by Piet at his Powerhouse Studios. I do feel I have to note that this review is happening after the release of the album and more than a week ago, there were over 500,000 streams of it already on Spotify, demonstrating both the dedication of Iron Savior fans as well as being a testament to the quality of the album. This time around, the band does stray a bit from the science fiction themes that dominate some of their other releases, as the challenges around the pandemic including bassist Jan being very ill, made this more of a personal album. That being said, the band made an album filled with positive energy, serving as an antidote to the overall darkness of the year.
“The Guardian” opens up Skycrest with the Rush-sounding keyboards (think Subdivisions) and then some harmonized guitar parts come in for the rest of the short instrumental, which in some ways serves as a prelude to what can be found later in the album.
Dec 152020