STORMHAMMER is a German Power Metal band formed in 1993. In honor of their upcoming 30^th anniversary, they've released a best of with one new song, encapsulating their career in one place. Never Surrender is a greatest hits album, but also a declaration that STORMHAMMER still has more to offer. Released on October 28, 2022, via Rock Of Angels Records, Never Surrender - 30 Years Of Power is proof that Metal is, and always will be, still very much alive. You get the Power Metal blast from STORMHAMMER right off the bat. "Northman" has a rapid-fire drum beat and a killer main riff. The bass line is nice and heavy, keeping the song running at the right pace. The vocals are a combination of clean and gritty, with a lot of backing vocals/layers throughout the track adding a depth to the track that helps keep it nice and heavy.

The one new track is "Light In The Dark," a mid-tempo rocker with an excellent riff and great lead work. The drumming is more moderate and the bass is beautifully paired with the bass drum pattern. The vocals are cleaner for the most part with some killer belted notes, though there are some cool gritty slides off of notes to punctuate the lyrical lines. "Holy War" is one of the longer tracks. It has an awesome melodic intro that leads off the song perfectly. That intro is followed by a nice chugging rhythm that has some of the best leads/fills on the record. There are either keyboards layered in or some really good guitar pedal tones mixed in. As long as this song is, there is really no Progressive Metal mixed in, instead staying almost purely in the Power Metal zone, which is a little different than many newer Power bands, but is impressive just from the ability to stay on track for this long.

The Power Ballad on this one is "Wise Man." The guitars are slow and melodic, the vocals are clean and have a lot of belting with warbles and vibrato woven into them. The song builds slowly, mixing in strings and using a choir to build up the size of the song. A Power Ballad is meant to be massive, and this one is. The addition of the keys/strings gives the song a width and breadth that is beautifully proportional to the lyrics. One of the heavier tracks is "Welcome To The End." This one has a fantastic groove to it, with an excellent riff and great drum line. The bass hovers under everything, much like the keys for the most part, adding some a great backbone that fills out the song nicely. STORMHAMMER really mixes the instruments together well, giving each just the right amount of power to feel them as much as hear them.

The album concludes with "The Law," another faster song with a lot of aggressiveness to the rhythm and guitar that fits perfectly into the pocket the bass and drums build. The rhythm has a killer gallop to it for the musical interludes and a nice tempered pattern for the verses. More layered in keyboards add some excellent tonality to the composition. STORM HAMMER definitely chose well for this compilation. There is a cool mix of everything from ballad to mid-tempo to fast-paced songs, showing their entire range and providing a great cross section of their career.