The New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal (NWOTHM) is one of the younger branches on the great tree of Metal. Containing most elements from Power metal, evident in acts like NIGHT DEMON and WHITE WIZZARD, they also bring in elements of the original New Wave of British Heavy Metal to enhance the experience. Fondness for old material typically leaves fans wanting new material, but only the kind that sounds old.

A small town in eastern Ohio may or may not be where one might expect to find a splash of the NWOTHM, but metal veteran ANDREW D'CAGNA has put another entry in his lengthy personal discography, as his one-man project IRONFLAME has dropped album number four, "Where Madness Dwells". Following up on 2020's powerful "Blood Red Victory", the new album burns hot, but this fire just doesn't seem to match the intensity of its predecessor.

The front half of the album in particular leaves something to be desired. Right away on "Everlasting Fire" you are treated to the same mix of IRON MAIDEN and HAMMERFALL, but the listener can draw that line so quickly that the song just lacks a certain boldness. The next four tracks, while not necessarily bad, all just feel like they're staying in that lane, offering the same sort of Power metal you've heard before.

Then you get to "The Phantom Flame" and the wait pays off, as this marks a return to form from the prior album, an original and electrifying tune. "A Curse Upon Mankind" reins back a bit though it still has its moments. But come "Infernal Angels" and the closer "Sands Of Time", and they're right back to hitting par for the course.

The fourth album blues strike again. Three steps upward have unfortunately led to one step down, where even a plateau would have been fine. "Where Madness Dwells" is a good album, but "Blood Red Victory" was a terrific album, the culmination of steady improvement. The back half does pick up some of the slack, but this is still, overall, rather garden-variety for the genre.

But then, have you seen the bands who try to get VERY experimental with Power metal? Or worse yet, have no experiment at all? We should be lucky to get one band per season from any genre whose new album is not as good as the last one but still a viable candidate for Album Of The Year. The man behind IRONFLAME has certainly done that much for us. If "Where Madness Dwells" doesn't hold a candle to its forebear, it may yet be a flamethrower compared to the competition.