Hailing from the frozen lakes and the grim bitterness of the heartland of Finland, PERPETUAL RAGE's first full length release "The New Kingdom" aims to balance traditional Heavy Metal with a modern flair.

Heavy Metal, the very core of this word evokes scene of he-man esque manliness and a fantastical setting. The very purpose of Heavy Metal is to draw you away from a 9-5 lifestyle, give you relaxation and act as a form of escapism. It is not a type of music to listen to in the background, it demands your full attention and nothing less. However with the progression of music styles in modern times, and the availability of cheap and easy recording techniques, Heavy Metal, at times, seems to have lost its mojo.

This brings us to PERPETUAL RAGE, another band trying to ride the seemingly never-ending crest of power chords and pentatonic drivel that is churned out by many a new band. Inoffensive and plodding seem the most accurate ways to describe this album, opener "Desert of Dreams" seems at first to be something more, before you realize that the entirety of this song is build upon a single musical idea.

Vocal wise, this release fails to re-create its obvious influences. An awkward mix of British Heavy Metal legends JUDAS PRIEST and SAXON leaves you hoping that each track ends prematurely, lest you hear another awkwardly placed high pitched noise or cringe inducing vocal hook. This theme continues with the rest of the instrumentation, soulless guitars producing riffs only worthy of a bedroom demo tape and drum work that fails to create the faintest spark of ingenuity.

It takes up until the penultimate track for something original to appear, "Road to Damnation" clears away the memory of the previous 30 minutes with a doom-inspired opening that actually involves the listener. This track alone proves that something can actually come from PERPETUAL RAGE, unfortunately by this point the entire audience has moved to greener pastures.