RAGENHEART has just released their self titled debut album. They hail from Greece. The songs are varied in tempo and subject matter. They have a record label that I have just become familiar with: Metal On Metal Records. They have a host of bands that are listed as being "old school". That is all I needed to hear to convince me of their intent. I love the old school vibe that has been in vogue as of late. The vocalist has a simply incredible range, and for a man whose first language isn't English, he has no accent that I can hear. He is truly amazing. When he goes for the high pitches screams, it doesn't sound like he's laboring or stretching. I always like a good clean voice in my Power Metal. To me it's one of the most important aspects of the genre and truly defines it. I really like the production, too. Once again I am forced to marvel at the quality shown by independent labels. I hope this trend continues and the days of horrible sounding albums are over with for good. Just wait until you hear the final song. I won't spoil it for you other than to say it's fantastic!

The song topics are varied and you don't have to worry about it being yet another concept album. I don't mind those at all, but I know some people do. The one annoyance I had is with the song "Black Gold", with the Zakk Wylde-like pinch harmonic squeals that I loathe and despise. Unlike Zakk however, they don't use it in every single song! The drummer has an appropriate nick name, "Speedy", as you get to hear for yourself throughout the album. I guess they could have picked a worse nick name. The majority of the songs are mid tempo; Nothing very fast and nothing too slow. I believe that is playing it safe. For a debut album though, I will let it pass. An example of the great drumming is present on "The Spartan". I have always liked Power Metal songs about epic battles. MANOWAR is my favorite example of such a thing. No one does it better, but that doesn't mean one can't try now, does it? I hope RAGENHEART gets the credit they deserve for this effort. It would be shame for it to be overlooked simply because it is on a small independent label. I think that's where I come in. It is my opinion that this self titled debut is definitely worth buying.

Overall I think this is a great start to what I hope to be a long career for these Greek Power Metal warriors. My congratulations on such a strong debut!