There’s no faulting German power metal pretenders Reinforcer on the effort or sincerity fronts; These Paderborn natives certainly make all the right moves on tracks like the title track and the heroic Allegiance and Steel. It’s just that, as so often happens with young bands in this musical field, all those moves have already been made by other people.

For the most part, this isn’t so problematic, as it’s easy to get caught up in the band’s fast-paced tunes of glory; Their Sabaton-meets-Blind Guardian default setting is a pretty enjoyable one, and the dual lead guitars of Niclas Stappert and Tobias Schwarzer will have your fingers twitching along throughout most of the record. The Pirate metal of Black Sails is a bit of a clunker, but other than that excitement, if not originality, levels remain high, with the highlight track Coupe de Grâce – A well-executed mix of Mean Streak and classic period Iron Maiden – hitting the spot in no uncertain fashion.

Logan Lexi is left a bit exposed out front on the mic – some of the choruses here could have been infinitely more impactful with some more work on his harmonies and/or beefing up the backing vocals – but, lack of originality apart, that’s the only real piece of nitpicking I can offer Reinforcer on what is after all their debut full-length offering. If they can keep coming up with material as good as Thou Shall Burn, give it their own twist and keep forging ahead, the rest will fall into place I’m sure. An encouraging debut all up.

Prince of the Tribes is out now.