DEXTER WARD is an American-Style Power Metal Band from Venice and Athens. Formed by former members of BATTLEROAR in 2009, the band wanted to take metal back to its roots on this album. Successfully, they managed to pull off an intense sword-and-sorcery piece with great varying techniques and without the orchestration or electronics of most of their contemporaries.

Traditional Power Metal at its finest, that's what I think when I hear the opener; "Return Of The Blades" promises us an album full of traditional sword and sorcery, and that's exactly what it delivers. The gallop is energizing and for a staple, feels refreshing. The production is clear; the vocalist comes through as do the well-harmonized instrumentals and thematic ambiance. The vocals are characterized with a pronounced gravel; they don't sound bad, rather, it gives the vocals a unique touch against the more straightforward instrumentals. It's a promising, fist-pumping start that makes me excited for the rest of the album.

The variety in songs keep the album going. The second song, "SoldiersOf Light" has a more progressive-sounding chord structure giving way to a darker, spine-tingling opening that distinguishes it from the last song. I love the playback between the drums and the guitar. There is a bit of a problem; the guitars can sound too electronic at parts, bordering on video-game-like sounds. While it's fast, it distinguishes itself from the opening track, with its own personality and style. The variety continues later on the album, when "Conan The Barbarian" follows the next two, longer, slower-starting tracks. It's a thrashing, fast-paced, short number that packs in a lot of punch and is a good break between the longer songs.

The variety keeps going through the album, as the opening songs give way to a longer, slower song, "In the Days Of Epic Metal". Here, the gravel characteristics of the vocalists are gone in the intro; we can hear his true singing ability: on point, clear, operatic. And once the song speeds up, we're treated to the range of the guitarist. In every instrumental break, the guitarist uses a different technique. Usually, a song like this would be included later on the album, but it's actually one of many longer, instrumentally rich songs here. "The Days Of Merlin" begins with some beautiful, soft chords on the musical backdrop of a harp. When it intensifies, it's the best of fantasy-inspired power-metal: great harmonies between the soaring main melody and the gunfire rhythm, inspiring ballads, wonderful vocal climbs and falls. The change in melody allows the guitarist once again to show their skill. The sweeps in the solo are thematic perfection and the way they're placed makes you stand up and take notice.

The closing track, "The Demonslayer" begins with pure ambiance, crashing drums pierce through it, setting the scene for a powerful, epic telling. Once the vocals come in, though, the gravelly vocals that gave other songs character actually give this song an element of corniness. I think this is due to the instrumentals not quite matching the vocals in intensity at that point. The instrumentals are solid, but I think the blending of operatic and gravelly vocals are a little over the top in the beginning.  It gets better as the instrumentals join in the intensity, especially with the beautiful guitar lick in the middle of the song. However, the operatic vocals at the end of the song are wonderful and soaring. I have to wonder why they chose to end with the chorus of the well-known Christmas tune "Angels We Have Heard On High".

Overall, it's a treat for the ears of fantasy, sword-and-sorcery Power Metal fans. With the exception of a few hokey parts, it's wonderful. I would tone down a couple elements; cheese is expected in power metal, but too much cheese can bog down a song and flick it into the realm of novelty. However, if you're into traditional Power Metal with all the intensity and without the bells and whistles of more contemporary stuff, this one is for you.