With a re-release of their debut EP "Stories of Times Forgotten", Swedish power metallers KRILLOAN aim to hit a wider audience, this time with Sliptrick Records and their worldwide release advantage. Starting out as a solo project for guitarist Klaus Holmgren in 2020, his vision was to write songs in the same spirit as the melodic power metal and heavy metal bands that were popular in the late 90s and early 2000s. But soon, KRILLOAN grew to be much more than a solo endeavor. Just one year later, the project gained members from all over the world with Holmgren and long-time friend Steve Brockmann from another two-man project called VISION OF CHOICE joined on lead guitar. Brockmann is from Germany while singer Alex VanTrue hails from Portugal, bassist Marco Toba is from Argentina and drummer David Lanas is from Ecuador. With his party assembled, the group set about battling the studio encounter from many different parts of our small world.

KRILLOAN would secure partnership with STORMWARRIOR founder Lars Ramcke and IRON SAVIOR's Piet Sielck - both responsible for many of the speed/power/viking metal albums of late 90s and early 2000s - to both mix and master the EP that would become 'Stories of Time Forgotten". Production was handled by main man Holmgren himself. They were even able to convince Felipe Machado Franco to design the cover, who has notably designed covers for BLIND GUARDIAN, AYREON, ICED EARTH, and PAGAN'S MIND. They were able to get enough of the mixing done to have their first single "Fireborn" released in April of 2021 with their full EP releasing just a month to the day later. It would be released through STORMSPELL records, a small label out of San Jose, California. Now with the backing of Sliptrick Records, the band hopes to reach a larger audience. The five tracks on the EP are meant to evoke the same sound and feeling featured prominently in that era's power metal, namely, fast riffing, thunderous drums, and epic vocals that reach to the stratosphere.

With the passion that KRILLOAN deliver their music in their debut EP, it's honestly a wonder why there isn't just a few more than five tracks to make a full album. "Into the Storm" blasts through as the opener with nearly black metal, double stop flair before exploding into a double bass, riff filled speed/power metal fest with singer VanTrue reaching a sustained high note out of the chorus that is nearly inhuman for a male tenor. Second track "Yggdrasil" continues the speedy intent with a drum solo for an opening, nearly straight into more bombastic invigoration. They may take a lot of influence from early BLIND GUARDIAN but instead of leaning into the grandiose and epic sounds, KRILLOAN would rather push the boundaries of speed and power with this EP, taking more influence from HELLOWEEN or DRAGONFORCE. I mention the latter band because the guitar theatrics on this EP rival some of the tricks that Herman Li can do. They prove they can provide plenty of tasty licks and riffs on "Fireborn", plenty of reasons for this to be the opening single given its inventive earworm quality. But if you thought the first three tracks were slow, give "Moonblade" a listen as this song alone would have many speed metal bands scared to release any new material. I hope that this isn't a simple one-off project because the quality and originality on this little EP gave me both such a nostalgia trip and a wanting for more.