The New Wave of Heavy Metal. Some people would argue that come the noughties, Heavy Metal as a genre splintered and thus were born many of the sub genres. Deathcore, Nu Metal and other more obscure sub genres, I mean I saw someone refer to a band as Mathcore recently, if anyone can enlighten me please do!! But here we have today a band that are part of the New Wave, that like to mix what is best of European and American styles and uphold the traditional sound. I am of course talking about CORNERS OF SANCTUARY.

With their most recent release "Heroes Never Die" we have a twelve-track studio album that promises to deliver that hard hitting, fist pumping sound that we all love. So, lets get to it. The artwork plays to the title, with a view of silhouetted figures on a war-torn street, simple and to the point. I like it.

The opening track "We Never" instantly impresses with dominant chords that make an instant statement. The track moves along at a steady pace, with a chorus that one can just see swathes of crowds chanting in unison. "Someone Else's War" and "The Truth In Lies" continue with this sturdy and pounding presence that has been exposed so far.

With a longer tracking time, "Combat Shock" and the titular "Heroes Never Die" provide a bit more meat to the bones of the album with some strong delivery again. Each track has some depth to it with subtle nuances between the main instrumental tracks that can do nothing but add to the music. "Into The Fight" returns to the same shorter, almost breathless attack of music that leaves myself as a listener wanting more, but more comes. "I Will" and "We Won't Back Down (Do Or Die)" both still use that up-tempo pace that has been present, but the elongated track times allow the songs to be developed a bit further and as such compliment the shorter track that preceded them perfectly.

As we come into the closing quarter of the album, I like to leave a little bit of surprise for you, the listener and reader when you come to it. So, on reflection this is a fantastic album. Personally, I can see the traditional styles coming straight to the fore, I kept getting shades of JUDAS PRIEST all the way through, don't ask me why but I was just expecting "You Got Another Thing Coming" or "Turbo Lover" to kick in. I think that, once again, CORNERS OF SANCTUARY have delivered a stellar album and it will be a fantastic addition to anyone's library!