SEPTAGON play an exuberant and high-flying brand of Power/Thrash Metal, having showcased their penchant for cutting riffs and soaring vocals on their two previous albums. The clarity of every element makes the subtleties of every verse, chorus, or breakdown riff readily apparent. The vocal talents of Markus Becker lend a punchy yet melodic attack to the music. The songs also flow very well into one another; but for the second of silence between tracks, it would be easy to see "The Rant" as a continuation of "Demon Divine". They both have the same sort of tight, driving attack in the rhythm section and riffing, and the vocals don't change much either, retaining their passion and force.

Markus Becker proves his versatility on "How to Kill the Boogeyman", which opens with soft, lilting arpeggios and ballad-like crooning vocals before transitioning into the same strident march as the rest of the album. The riffs are heavily influenced by bands like IRON MAIDEN and early HELLOWEEN; which means they are full of gallops and chugging low notes punctuated by chord stabs. There is a heavier emphasis on the Power Metal than the Thrash Metal side of things I feel, especially with the cleaner vocal style. Unfortunately, this is one of those bands where it is apparent that vocals and lyrics are two quite different things. The band writes a lot of clichéd and at times noticeably cheesy lines, which could always be a sign of them having fun with their art, and that's a great thing. But when that sort of heavy-handed lyricism persists across an entire album, it wears thin shortly. It's a matter of taste, just like everything-there are people who think Dave Mustaine is a brilliant lyricist after all.

Most guitar-driven Power Metal is strongly reliant on impressive and memorable lead moments, whether they be solos or dual guitar harmonies, and We Only Die Once is no exception. There is at least one of these on every song, and the playing is never mindless. There are rapid arpeggio flurries and wailing bends flowing into and out of one another with emotion enough to silence anyone who thinks of metal as 'bland showboating'. Tracks like "Vendetta" and "Head Held High" exemplify this melodic approach to lead work. As the longest song on the album, "Gardens of Madness" has plenty of space allocated to this as well.

The types of riffs present on the songs never changes as the album progresses; and that holds true for every instrument. Barring the odd intro or post-chorus or what have you, all the songs on We Only Die Once boil down to similar permutations of galloping and stomping power chord (sometimes pedal-tone) riffs. The biggest exception in this regard is "Gardens of Madness", which has a lengthy middle section that explores and develops new melodic ideas. For the first few songs, there's no issue with the band's singular approach to riff writing, but once you pass the halfway mark it begins to feel formulaic and stale. That said, what diversity there is appears towards the end of the album, with the aforementioned "Gardens of Madness" and "Decision Day"'s arpeggiated interjections between riffs. The bass fills between the intro riff of "Strange Times" are a nice touch as well, as is the aptly alien melody line the guitar plays. The shimmering prechorus in "Strange Times" is almost psychedelic. Though the band may have gotten a little more creative writing the music, their lyrics remain of the cringily obvious variety.

The album would have best ended with "Strange Times" in my opinion, as "Ekke Nekkepen" is another collection of generic riffs that any Power/Thrash Metal band might have written. Its saving grace is the solo, which is admittedly charged with adrenaline. I think this is a solid album written in the vein of classic Power/Thrash Metal that suffers from what is either a lack of ideas or a willingness to change a few notes and call it a different riff. With more diversification I think SEPTAGON has the musical ability to craft a longer-lasting piece of metal history, but We Only Die Once is not that piece.