To call NEPTUNE just another power metal band does not do them justice. There is a power metal element to them, but they are so much more. NEPTUNE, a Swedish metal band, blends melodic and power metal while incorporating elements from their influences, which include Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Accept. Having written songs about their Nordic history, their second album, “End Of Time”, contains songs about the last known viking, Harald Hardrada, whose death at the battle of Stamford Bridge marked the end of the Viking Age and became celebrated as “End Of Time”. The music on here is upbeat. It does not drag with a slow mid tempo beat, nor is it super fast. It is not fast driving metal based on guitar riffs, but allows the keyboards to carry the songs.

The first track, “Metal Hearts”, is a great way to start the album. Wasting no time, it jumps right in with a quick four bar intro that carries the rhythm. This has good vocals and good guitars. The lead guitar accents the song beautifully. Everything is mixed well, where nothing drowns anything else out. Each instrument has its spot to breathe and shine. “End of Time”, the title track, starts with a keyboard synth riff that will get repeated in the chorus. Then it allows the bass and drums to carry the rhythm during the verses, with just simple and subtle guitars. “Motherland”, has a big sound, carried once again with the keyboards. Everything on this song has a big sound, including the layered backing vocals on the chorus. “Nepturion” has a different feel than the other songs on the album. It builds from clean guitars with chorus effect to heavier guitars on the chorus. It never builds to a very fast pace but stays at a mid tempo. “Highlands” is an up-tempo rocker, again not super fast but paced fast enough and fairly upbeat. It comes on with a good rhythm riff for the short intro, then minimal guitars on the verse. There is a nice transition of the bridge to a short keyboard interlude for the solo. The chorus is good with nice backing vocals. “Northern Winds” might be the most interesting song here, building from slow and soft guitars and piano to heavier on the chorus and back to soft. It keeps changing from soft to heavy and back to soft, all the while keeping it interesting.

While NEPTUNE does not try to be a flashy band, and they are not blazingly fast or have showy speed riffs, they are a solid band with good songs. There are no Malmsteen style riffs here, but instead just good solid rhythms. The songs are more focused on the words, while getting right to the point, featuring short intros and solos or breaks. They are not super high energy and the ones that try to build do not really build to anything exciting.