From the fabulously overblown opening passages of Reforged‘s first track, Ride For Ruin, fans of ‘proper’ heavy metal will know they are in for a wild ride, a ride that quite possibly won’t be equalled for the rest of the year if I’m any judge… All hail Adamantis, kings of the new tradition!

If you’ve ever owned a denim cutoff wallpapered in the patches of your fave Old Gods’ logos, there is absolutely no way that the galloping intro of Gates of Miklagard won’t get you into a muck lather; it’s beautiful chugging intro guitar is just perfect, evoking memories of the first time you heard 22 Acacia Avenue (well that’s what it did for me at least, other metal classics are available…), but at the same time this is clearly a band that wants to live in the now rather than the past. Everything on Reforged is shot through with a freshness that belies the age of it’s influence. Jeff Stark, for instance, has (re)forged his own vocal identity; lesser vocalists might have found it easier to simply ape the greats, which is something Stark never does, immediately lending classic-sounding material an authority based in the new rather than the old. He’s a very good singer, but very much his own man, which is undoubtedly a very good thing.

Reforged at it’s best – Ride for Ruin (where the band are joined to great effect by Arch Enemy man Jeff Loomis), the title track, or The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, say – strikes just the right mix of ancient and modern. Javier Estrada and Vance Simmons play the guitars straight from the heart, whilst the rhythm section Alex Scofield (bass) and drummer Evgeny Gromovoy are by turns agile or adamantine as the situation demands. They’ve got the chops to move this band to great heights, and the future looks very bright for Adamantis from where this writer is standing. Exciting times ahead!

Reforged releases on March 7th.