Adventure metal is back! Despite being slightly hampered by an album title that sounds a little like it was spat out of a ‘power metal album title generator’ on a lazy Sunday afternoon, Twilight Force‘s new opus, At The Heart of Wintervale, proves once more that, in the world of symphonic power metal, nothing succeeds like excess…
And of course we here at Sentinel Daily are right behind such a maxim; Why wouldn’t you be when the excess in question is generating such ludicrous yet simultaneously life-affirming hokum like Skyknights of Aldaria? A track that combines the Broadway schmaltz of Dennis DeYoung, the widescreen cinematic bombast of John Williams and the sot of heavy metal overload that would have Joey DeMaio crapping his leather chaps if ever he heard it, this is undoubtedly what it’s all about. It’s undeniable, it’s unignorible, it’s downright undesirable if your idea of a rip-roaring night in is discussing Noam Chomsky with a Woody Guthrie musical backdrop – it is, in short, undeniably wonderful.
Lead from the front by newish vocalist Alessandro Conti (sorry, Allyon), last seen around these parts fronting the similarly wonderful Trick or Treat, Twilight Force circa 2023 are pretty much the complete package. They’ve toned down on their original premise just a little – you’d never have heard the little burst of salsa that crops up on Sunlight Knight in 2011 when the band formed, I’d wager, although the dash of Handel at the end of the track is bang-on the band’s original message, I’d say – adding a slightly more accessible tablespoon or two extra of Helloween to the mix now. But that doesn’t mean they’ve dumbed down – The Last Crystal Bearer, with it’s soundtrack pretensions and ear for a massive hook is pretty much pure, undiluted Twilight Force – and the hour or so of music that makes up At The Heart of Wintervale is still the most joyous, goosebump-inducing dose of audio mania you’ll prescribe yourself for a good while.
Twilight Force are, without a doubt, not for everyone. But if you do get ‘it’, then unfettered pleasure awaits your ears with ATHOW, so jump in feet first and enjoy everything the album has to offer – you deserve it.
At The Heart of Wintervale releases on January 27th.
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