Whilst a band that takes it’s name from the mythos of JRR Tolkein and the title of it’s new album from the Roman poet Horace sounds like it might be the review property of my colleague Graham Goodge, musically, as Sentinel Daily editor Scott Adams pointed out, this ‘right up my alley’; Eregion are unapologetically, unashamedly, heroically a power metal band!

The opening track, a galloping tale of the Templars, Kingdom of Heaven, sets the scene perfectly, and after that there’s no turning back. This is a headbanging, no holds barred smorgasbord for anybody who thinks the first three HammerFall albums are a viable design for living. This is what we want!

Talking of HammerFall, Ride Forth, the second track here, could easily have nestled into Renegade without anybody noticing, but happily this album is more than just an exercise in tributing Joacim Cans and company. For a start, the judicious use of violins, supplied in a guest capacity by Eternal Silence‘s Katja Di Giulio gives the music a nice extra dimension, giving some of the material a pompous, progressive edge that adds real gloss to the overall sound.

Elvenking and Manowar are other reference points – add in a bit of Rhapsody and Lost Horizon and you get a pretty tasty recipe for success. It all comes together best on the two tracks that form the central axis of the album, Earandil The Mariner and Earandil Star, wherein the band transcends all the influences to create something glorious that stands very much on it’s own two feet as the work of a band that’s well worth sitting up and taking notice of.

Dario Fontana‘s vocal style is perfect for the band, and in concert with the guitars of Giorgio Colbacchini and Gianluca De Lotto he provides the point of the spear that takes the songs to the stratosphere; Bassist Davide Gianforte and drummer Andrea Muscarello play their parts to the hilt, too – I love the former’s playing in the early section of Far My Land – and the quintet’s cohesion as a team means that even the more mundane material on offer (not that there’s much) still manages to capture the imagination of the listener.

I’ve lived with this album for a while now and, a few slight gripes about the production aside, I can’t find anything to get annoyed about Non Omnis Moriar. This is a must-have album for fans of European power metal everywhere!

Non Omnis Moriar releases on May 24th.