Being in 2018 doesn't mean you won't hear any classic sounding power metal records anymore. One man band ARCANE TALES' release "Legacy of the Gods" does just that: relive the vibe of classic power metal. The album contains nine epic classic power metal tracks completing a 45-minute experience of heroic anthems. The show begins with tension raising instrumental "Divine Fire Burns Within" and its huge orchestrations accompanied by marching rhythms of the drums, then goes straight to "Breaking the Hard Chains of Destiny". This song is a true "in your face" expression of fury, with its hyper fast drumming, use of big choirs and deep deep bass. The only issue I have here is the sound of the guitars, which is more of production issue. The riffs and passages are all good, but the sound itself is irritating to the ears. It's a mid-pitched sound having a high-frequency after effect to the ears which causes real pain literally.

Up next is the title track "Legacy of the Gods". The sound is like a crossover of classic STRATOVARIUS and BLIND GUARDIAN. It has a big intro of dueling guitars and keyboards. The song begins in a mid-paced tempo and then slowly progressing into a more aggressive approach, music-wise and vocals-wise. The problem on the guitars is still there, so it means that the sound that they tuned their guitar into is the sound they really want. This thus proves that the issue of the high-frequency after effect is really on the recording and production process. The solo in this song is an extravagant duel between the keyboards and guitars, which sounds really akin to classic STRATOVARIUS but with stronger drums. The game pretty much stayed the same until the second longest song "The Angel of Death". The song is aggressive right from the beginning with its strong catchy riffs lead by the guitars. Here, they utilized harsh vocals in some parts of the song especially in the verses. The chorus is so anthemic, just like how power metal should be. It is also evident the song is mainly riff-driven which gives it a much stronger character compared to the earlier songs.

The mood shifts 180 degrees with the following song "Between These Silent Shores" which is a power ballad. The intro is a lovely classical piano sound, with sound effects of small waves crashing against the shore. The gentle approach of singing is just perfectly balanced to keep up with the power ballad mood without losing its strong appeal. The last and longest song and hence the most epic of them all, "Magic Horizons at Nightfall" starts with a mellow piano passage before simply blasting itself all the way through. It's generally mid-paced, with some tempo changes in between verses. It also possesses some short but sick breaks, may it be drum breaks or keyboards breaks. It has a lot of mood shifts sandwiched by epic duos of guitars and keyboards. Overall, the album I can say is of average level power metal record. It has lots of influences from classic power metal acts like BLIND GUARDIAN, STRATOVARIUS, and at times, HELLOWEEN. The flaw is mostly on the production, especially in balancing the volumes of the instruments. Also, the issue of the guitar sound I mentioned is really seriously painful.