2012 has given us many albums, and among them is the first full length album by SCEPTOR, titled "Take Command!". After listening to it several times, I have to say, it's a "good" album, not bad by any means, but it did fall short of making a great first impression, I must admit. Many pieces of the metal puzzle that is "Take Command!" are crafted carefully, but they just don't always fit together to make the full picture come to life.

Here's what I mean: "The Clash" is an epic moment between two sworn enemies, just before the battle begins. "Shadows In The Maze", the following track, doesn't really lend itself to a song of battle, but it's sounds more like a path to travel. Not really what you would expect to follow "The Clash". "Powerhouse" and "Time" are great songs about war and gathering your forces. Todd and Tim really do great harmonies on these songs, truly soaring about the melodies, and leading you right into some amazing guitar work.
 

"These Hellish Nights", "Hammer of the North", and "Take Command" ran together for me. The intros were rather on the bland side, but the rhythm work made up for it. I liked the songs, but had to kind of work for it. Next up? "Raging Seas". Now this is the ball's out song I was waiting for! Great rhythms, solid drums, soaring vocals, and listen to that lead! Made this Metal smile and bang my head while crouched over my keyboard. Finally, "Endless Ocean" and "Rock City" are, in my opinion, the weakest tracks. They lacked the same energy as the rest of the album, the rhythm of the lyrics didn't seem to flow with the songs, and in a couple spots the guitars just didn't feel as together as they should be. They both left me feeling, well, for back of a better term, "meh". 

As I mentioned before, the album is good, but I really only got excited over 1 song, so I have to give it a lower rating than I had hoped to. The band has an amazing amount of potential, and this album is a great offering to the masses, and would please the Metal gods.