The sophomore album by Greek Power Metal band SCORCHER, certainly exceeds any expectations I may, or may not, have had going in to this. The opening bars of the title track, "Steal The Throne", had me hooked right from the get go, and I couldn't let go until well after the final track, "Every Land Can Be Your Tomb", had long finished.

There are points throughout the 46 minute run time that had me wondering if the next song would sound much like the last, but the band did a good job of putting in enough variety so that it didn't ever get stale. The first song had me hooked and ready, but it was the second track, "Ares (Warlord of Hellos)", that made me think that there may be something special here. It instantly conjured imaged of Spartan warriors heading into battle with it's extremely fast and aggressive pace and legend based lyrics. Things slowed down for the interlude track, "The Warriors Prelude", before absolutely smashing the door down with "Warriors Don't Give Up".

Later in the album, the song "Stonecold" practically screamed single material, with its extremely catchy chorus and driving beat. The biggest standout of the entire album would have to be the sole ballad, landing practically right in the middle of the album, "The Placebo Effect". This is an extremely beautiful and haunting song that seemingly came out of nowhere, as I was so used to hearing loud and heavy when it showed up. It was in this song that the serious technical skill of SCORCHER came through.

All in all, there was not a single track on this album that felt tired or uninspired. From start to finish it was an absolute blast, and I would expect that given exposure, we could expect to see much more of SCORCHER.
SCORCHER have crafted a technical masterpiece with "Steal The Throne", showing off the extreme musical skill, and song writing prowess of Vangelis Tekas or "Tex", as he prefers to be known.

In the metal scene, we are constantly bombarded with screeching, growling, blast beats, power chords, and other heavy stereotypes that make me extremely hesitant to ever listen to a new band without hearing prior news of them. This was a huge breath of fresh air, if somewhat reminiscent of the bands that sired the Power Metal genre as a whole. You can certainly hear the influence of bands like MEGADETH, JUDAS PRIEST, and IRON MAIDEN through the soaring vocals, intense guitar solos, and solid driving beats throughout almost every song. So while they may now have the most original style, it's one that isn't heard so much these days.  I went in to this album, not knowing what to expect, and I can safely say, I was very pleasantly surprised.

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