The second release from the Sicilian band IRONTHORN, "Legends of the Ancient Rock", is an incredible album. Filled with a myriad of stylistic influences, the band manages to showcase an impressive number of them into a fifty-three-minute record; from the beauty of "A New Day" to the albums closing instrumental track "The Ancient Rock". I have not been able to find production credits for this record, but they have done an incredible job with the mix and tone throughout.

"A New Day" starts things off. An instrumental, which brings to mind DOKKEN's "Without Warning" or the opening of "Battery" from METALLICA's "Master of Puppets" classic. Beautiful sweeping acoustic guitar piece with a slightly over-driven electric solo over the top... what's not to love about it? "Legends" is an homage to all the different influences within the band, not only quoting lyrics and song titles, but paying respect to various musicians by name, including Dimebag Darrell Abbot, who has been an obvious influence in the guitar sounds of Maurizio Liberto and Gabriele Misuraca.

"The Seed of Fire", featuring long time LABYRINTH vocalist Roberto Tiranti, opens with a very distinct and memorable guitar line; in fact, the song showcases some of the better guitar work on the album. The song "Werewolf" contains my favorite lyric "The Shadow is the only place where the light shines...", delivered over an absolute hammering chorus. "My Cure" is another highlight track, with great lyric imagery and more incredible guitar work.

If I have a complaint with this record, it would be that the vocals are sometimes a bit muddied. I'm certain part of this is lost in the thickness of Luigi Pullara's accent, but I found myself struggling to understand the content at times. On a slightly humorous note, once I realized the track "Ladro Del Tempo" was delivered in Italian, I just gave up completely...

All said, I found the entire album exceptional. As mentioned before, the mix is superb, and the content throughout is really quite remarkable, especially considering the youth involved. I'm a fan, and wait anxiously for the next release to see where it might take us.