KALEDON is a Power Metal band from Italy. They have named all of their albums "Legend Of The Forgotten Reign" with each subsequent release named numerically as Chapter I, Chapter II, Chapter III, and so on using roman numerals. I guess it's easier than coming up with a new name each time. Actually it is done this way because it's all a giant ongoing concept album(s). I like this format a lot. It reminds me a lot of the late Robert Jordan's "Wheel Of Time" saga. It never seems to end! Unfortunately in his case there only remains one book to be written by a writer chosen by his wife. In the case of KALEDON, they may go on forever. I hope they do.

Most of the songs start off with effects of battle, or horses trampling the ground and sometimes by a narrator telling a story or a soldier addressing his troops. We even get treated to a town cheering the arrival of their troops in the very appropriately titled "Coming Back To Our land". The final song closes with a child asking his grandfather to tell him the story again. I have heard many fantasy albums unfold in this fashion and I never get tired of it. Everyone likes a good story, right? I for one do, and KALEDON gives us a very nice story indeed.

Narrated Power Metal albums have been done before, but so have gunfights in a western movie. Just because something is done often doesn't mean it should be stopped. I guess by that logic car chases should be stopped in films because we've already seen a thousand of them? I often get annoyed when people say an album offers nothing "new". I find that to be rather lame. AC/DC has been recording the same album for over 30 years and when Angus Young was literally told that by a reporter, "You have been recording the same album for 30 years", Angus replied, "I know, ain't it great?". I always respond to that by saying, "So what if it's been done before, as long as it's done well?" A genre is exactly that, a genre, and it's always going to follow a certain set of rules, or a "formula" or else it becomes something else, a different genre.

The production is crisp and clean and very clear. Most of all, the album contains all of what makes Power Metal great; epic choirs, keyboards, dramatic vocals, fast drumming, and clean high pitched vocals. All of these qualities are executed in excellent fashion. The story is a classic one of good versus evil, one that requires either purchasing all of their albums to understand, or to simply go to their homepage and click on the "concept story" icon, but hey, that would be cheating! So go out there and buy them all! Just kidding, this is a fantastic album that all Power Metal fans should deeply enjoy. I won't spoil the story for you. You will just have to buy it and hear it for yourself. Overall I think this will make a great addition to your Power Metal collection. I don't think it's an absolute must to own all of the albums to follow the story, but I find myself wanting to hear all the others as well. KALEDON has delivered big time. This is an awesome album!