For a band that originally formed with no more of a goal than to play covers of other great power metal bands, HANGAR, have certainly endured the test of time and now have released their seventh studio album, "Stronger Than Ever". Really the title of the album says it all.

HANGAR has always seemed like a love letter to the classic power metal bands because of the way they originally formed, and even with so much original material under their belts, it feels like they can't quite shake that original feel. However, this is in no way a bad thing. With so many newer power metal bands around that seem to have a totally different feel to those classic bands, it's great to see a band that still has that classic feel to it. HANGAR doesn't completely stick to this though, as they tend to bring a bit of prog in to it all as well to make their sound a little more unique.

"Stronger Than Ever" starts well with "Reality is a Prison", but the next two tracks kind of felt like filler. At this point I was a little disappointed and was beginning to feel like the title of the album had mislead me. However, "A Letter From 1997" rebuilt my faith with an, although extremely cheesy, seriously great power metal song that felt like it came straight out of the era that the band was formed in, hence the name. "Just Like Heaven" is clearly the song that would be put forward as a single. It's the typical emotional power ballad with a fantastic hook, and it's at this point where you truly see the talent behind vocalist Pedro Campos. "Beauty In Disrepair" practically screams JUDAS PRIEST, and as a big fan of JUDAS PRIEST, this song blew me away. The vocals are harsh and powerful, the instrumentals are fast and unrelenting, and the melody has such a driving force behind it, that it got me reinvigorated for the last few tracks. The next track, "We Keep Running The Course" brings the tempo and the aggression back down a lot, back to the power ballad feel. This one doesn't seem so much like it would be pushed as a single like "Just Like Heaven", but I honestly preferred its more melancholy feel. The penultimate song, "The Hangar Of Hannibal" is probably the most aggressive track on the album, and has the most ridiculously grandiose instrumental sections ever to come out of HANGAR. It's absolutely glorious and would typically serve as a perfect way to end the album. However there is one more song. That final song is an acoustic version of the previously mentioned "Just Like Heaven", and this is exactly how the song should have been in the first place. While it no longer feels as much like a radio single, it's an absolutely beautiful and moving rendition of the song. When I said earlier that the first version of the song showed off the talent of Pedro Campos, it turns out it works ever better here. It's all about this version. All of the harshness of his voice is gone, giving way to one of the best ballads I've heard since "Love You To Death" by KAMELOT.

Power metal isn't for everyone. Hell no genre is. But if you like classic power metal, and haven't heard HANGAR before, "Stronger Than Ever" is a great place to start. While it's let down in a few places with some dull filler songs, it makes up for it with others.

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