POWER METAL can often be a double edged sword. On the one hand, the musicianship tends to be top notch or at least up there in the ranks, but on the other hand, it can come off sounding very "samey" from track to track, and band to band! Thankfully Quebec's SUDDENFLAMES provide us with an album that keeps things a bit fresher, with plenty of heaviness balancing with their epic sound.

"Vendetta" starts us off with the sounds of a music box that you realise is the main riff of the song as guitars start fade in from the distance before slamming into the riff properly. This is a strong start to the album, with nice powerful vocals supported by lots of great metal underneath.

"Pilgrims Of Steel" is a bit faster, with the drums pushing things on with plenty of double bass drumming going on. This is one of the heavier ones, with lots of gang vocals, chugging guitars and overall frantic sense of speed. The chorus here is pretty cool, with lots of cool vocal layering that gives it a sort of RHAPSODY OF FIRE fell but definitely a lot heavier. This is also a bit of a longer track, and features a cool breakdown (not the Metalcore variety) with lots of cool moments happening throughout keeping it interesting.

As I said this album offers plenty to keep things interesting. Tracks like "Warrior Of Hell" which has a dramatic feel to it, full of tense chord voicings and guitar playing, with a cool and different approach to the vocals. The lyrics seem pretty typical power metal but it works really well so it doesn't really matter, and the chorus is another nice and catchy one. "Tormented Mind" offers a bit more of a melodic track, with some really well performed basslines and almost bluesy guitar leads before heading into the main riffage of the track. This one is quite cool, as it offers plenty of melody but balances it well with the heavy guitar riffs keeping it firmly in METAL territory. It should be noted that this is an instrumental, and a good one at that (barring some vocal choir style sounds that might have been keyboards but was quite low in the mix so I wasn't totally sure!)

Title track "Under The Sign Of The Alliance" is a nice and long track to finish up the album with, with a BLIND GUARDIAN meets HELLOWEEN feel, with heavier riffs meeting really old school power metal riffage that really impressed me. More layered vocals add to the epic feel of the track and album, setting in stone what the band is all about for one last time on the album.

The production is pretty good, the vocals shine overall really; lots of layering and harmonies going on here, and the guitars sound good too. The bass is nice and audible which is always a personal plus and the drums are plenty powerful enough, a little "clicky" sounding at times but it suits the overall sound well.

This album blends good things from both old-school and modern Power Metal and feels squarely aimed at that sort of fan. It's definitely a good album, with strong songwriting you'd expect from a second album onwards, with very well performed instruments all around, and plenty of style throughout.