RuneLord, the Power Metal band from Sweden, completes the trilogy they began with 2018's A Message from the Past, and continued with The Battle for Greatness (2018), now wrapping up the trilogy of sword and sorcery with 2022's Doomsday Script. This band vacillates between legitimate Power Metal, and what Power Metal might sound like if Spinal Tap did it. Songs like Bliss for Metalheads seem almost a caricature of the Power Metal sound and style. This might present that way to me since RuneLord lyrically is based on the role-playing game of the same title crafted by Fredrik Holm. Apparently, he writes the lyrics and then turns them over to Swedish multi-instrumentationalist Cedrick Forsberg to put to music.

The songs are in the vein of a Manowar, or maybe Hammerfall, but are several classes below that. Think more at the level of a Skullview. These are all bands that live their style and thus the commitment to the Hail, Power, Kill attitude of Power Metal exhibited by RuneLord is sincere. Maybe if you are a gamer, (I am not), you can grasp the storyline of this multialbum concept. I unfortunately do not. In the end, musically anyway, I just hear Dragonforce minus the enjoyment of watching them perform. I also suspect that the story doesn't suddenly come into sharp focus from listening to the first two albums of this trilogy, or in other words, I don't think I am missing the impact of the storyline.

To be fair, credit has to be afforded both Forsebergs musicality, and the vocal talent of Piechev who sings power metal with the clean clarity and multi octave range necessary for the "epic" sound. Still. Golden Chamber, Corrupt Midgard, and Armed for Danger are all pretty much interchangeable as far as being distinguishing songs. Hels Mental Slaves did start a bit different and for the first minute of the track, I got a taste of a more Gaelic sound. Even this small difference was notable, (just as salt can sometimes flavor an otherwise blander meal). If you just want the best track of the album, listen to the namesake RuneLord and its almost seven minute attack. That one does raise its Mace filled armored glove higher than the others.

Again, the guitar work is really very good and there's undeniable talent here musically, but if I can't dig into the tale, then I won't get invested in the lyrics and if I don't care about the story then Power Metal is reduced from a sunshine laden, blood soaked battlefield of Hero's and Immortals with swords and shields, to the album equivalent of a visit to Medieval Times. In the end, there are better Power Metal albums to invest in, but...if you are a hard core gamer, and you know the world of RuneLord like the back of your mail-clad glove, then by all means grab yourself a copy.