It’s pretty rare, in the dying embers of 2024, to find a band operating in the overpopulated waters of power metal with something new to offer that isn’t just a gimmick, or, worse still, a ‘schtick’…

Step forward, then, Finland’s Ice Exiled, who offer a genuinely fresh and interesting take on the power/melodic metal genre, in the process creating some eminently listenable heavy metal.

Don’t get wrong – they absolutely haven’t reinvented the wheel. But what they do do is take apart the constituent elements of a great power metal album, given them a bit of spit and polish and then put them back together with their own peculiar twist. And the result of this process is genuinely exciting. Reapers Feast is ostensibly a pretty standard Euro prog/power workout, fusing all the usual elements, and yet… the band suffuse the music with an indefinable something that just takes it to the next level time and again. Maybe it’s the use of a cello as a front line instrument, maybe it’s a particularly seventies sensibility that underpins much of the most impressive musical mastery on show… After prolonged exposure to Reset The Sky I still can’t put my finger on it completely, but I’m damned if it’s going to beat me. I’ll get to the bottom of this beguiling album in the end!

Miika Matilainen has a pleasingly versatile voice, bolstered by Cellist Veikko Sajaniemi; Guitarist Oskari Kilpi and bassist Roger Gottleben lock together well, particularly in the heavier passages, whilst studio drummer Ville Nummisalo is never less than a dynamic force at the back, propelling the band through a myriad of moods and settings at the flick of a stick. Make no mistake, this is an incredibly accomplished set of musicians.

Closing track The Satellite (We Call Home) is an absolute tour de force, but quite frankly you could drop the needle anywhere on this captivating album and be filled with wonder. Amazing stuff.

Reset The Sky releases on November 29th.