MANTRIC MOMENTUM is the side project of vocalist Terje Haroy, better known for his work with the vastly underrated Power Metal band PYRAMAZE. He joined up with his former cohort and cousin Christer in TEODOR TUFF, to form this band back in 2020. This is their second full-length album, released three years after ‘’Trial by Fire’’. I have been binge-listening to a bunch of Power Metal bands the last few months so this band, and album per se, have come along really at the right moment for me. I have rediscovered my love for the genre after a Facebook post from one of my very oldest friends who still listens to the classics. I was able to rekindle my relationship with the genre after several years of not paying too much attention other than a few bands here and there.

I thought it was a great way to start off ‘’Alienezed’’ with that pretty acoustic-esque intro. A foreshadowing of things to come, makes me think about bands like RHAPSODY, STRATOVARIUS back in the day that had a Firestarter to begin an album, a prelude to something pretty epic. It has that ‘’God of War’’ ambiance about it which I really enjoyed actually and it gets your blood boiling that’s for sure. Upon my first playthrough, I realize that this bands fuses Power Metal and the New Wave of Classic Metal, I can hear the influences from the European Power Metal masters but also bands like JAG PANZER, VIRGIN STEELE, SAVATAGE and obviously PRIMAL FEAR (more about them later). They don’t stick to just doing the paint-by-numbers Power Metal, they incorporate many elements from the Classic Metal phase and they can shake off any comparison of copying any bands out there.

One thing one can count is their ability to craft tasty, damn-near pretty melodies to augment the central riff work. And with “Alienized”, those musical ideas are in full swing. The way everything is played is done so with a slightly unstable energy generated by a group of individuals who aren’t here to ness around and would rather tell it like it is, bouts of staying power be damned! That in and of itself is rather fine to deal with; in spite of my musical tastes heading towards more majestic and long-reaching acts, I know that this is the kind of thing you’d want to go for if all you want is metal for the sake of metal, if you just want pure guitars, solos, traditional arrangements and raging vocals, this might be the go-to album.

As always mixing the traditional old-school style, hard and fast songs that we are used to hearing with Power Metal mastery is money, well most of the times anyways. There are many awesome riffs, chords, hooks and solos will knock your socks off and get your head banging swiftly. Aside from the typical tropes of the genre, we also have a pretty interesting production. When Frontiers record usually back a band, you are sure to have an excellent sounding band and that’s a big plus for any fan out there. I have reached the point as a fan that nitpicking or simply being far too critical of a band of the genre, well it does not make any sense to me anymore. I enjoyed the album, it’s a kickass Power Metal album, leaning towards the Traditional Heavy Metal route. I cannot for the lift of me pinpoint a favorite song or moment off this album, it’s probably an album that will get a whole lot of playthroughs in the coming weeks, with the regulator rotation I have right now.

The comparisons can be attributed to PRIMAL FEAR like I said beforehand but if you speak about the last three studio albums that have been subpar because of the diminished songwriting skills of Henrik Karlsson, well, MANTRIC MOMENTUM fills that void. They have several elements from the German Power Metal veterans but it doesn’t feel overdone and underappreciated. Parts of ‘’Alienized’’ should have been what PRIMAL FEAR was looking for as evolution of their sound. It feels that this could have been it for them, yet, even though Terje Maroy is not as powerful as Ralf Scheepers, he has the charisma and range of a Nils Molin (from DYNAZTY) and some resemblance to Tony Kakko from SONATA ARCTICA. He is a seemless blend of the old school and the new school yet sounding original, bringing his voice to the fray.