STORMWARRIOR is a Heavy / Power Metal band releasing their sixth album. The album is a long-time coming, with musical disagreements holding its release back. But fans should note that it picks up where the last album left off. The music is inspired, bombastic, and thematically can remind me of voyages at sea. However, the melodies can sound artificial at times which mars the overall sound of the album.

"To the Shores Where I Belong" is an ambient intro featuring piano chords, an acoustic guitar, and crashing waves. It's soft but builds up the elements throughout the song to lead to an intense end with crashing, uplifting guitar chords. From the intro, "Norsemen (We Are)" sends us full blast into a high-powered symphonic melody, chock-full of harmonics, synthetic orchestration, and bombast. The harmonies are complex and wonderful, and the intensity carries the song through to the end. Drum rolls and choir elements make for some nice touches to the harmonies. The one thing that brings it down are the nasally vocals. The vocals are clear and on key, but the singer sounds too shrill and unpowered against the bombastic instrumentals. "Storm of the North" begins with an ambient Viking horn before getting straight into another intense melody. The vocals are still high-pitched and shrill, but with the higher melody and the snare, they fit better here. The chorus is well-done with heavy choir elements to compensate for the main vocals.

"Freeborn" is the song where the vocals fit the best. They pair well with the high-pitched snare and symphonics. The harmonies still come through and the choral elements till have an uplifting, echoing effect. It's a rush of a song, complete with more uplifting melodies and a fast-paced song throughout. The guitar solo is a slower melody, soaring above the faster rhythm, taking the song down a little to recharge the song before the end. "Odin's Fire" starts with a high-pitched, anthemic chord leading into another speed-thrash heavy song. Some sweeps at the beginning are interesting. Like the last song, they employ artificial sounding symphonics which match the vocal style, but at this point, I'm wondering if it compromises the instrumentation quality. Reason being, the instrumentals were beautiful in the first few tracks, but the vocals didn't fit. Now, the vocals fit, but it's because the instrumentation has become so high and synthetic. However, the solo employs some highly charged sweeps and a good range of technique in this song to show some really good musicality. It's long, though, but includes enough variety to keep it listenable throughout.

"Sword Dane" begins with the sounds of swords being unsheathed, which is a good thematic touch before going into a fast, low guitar melody and a distant war cry. The melody change in the chorus is a wonderful, unexpected surprise and brings out another side of the band I wish I could hear more of, their smooth, intricate melodies without so much artifice. "Blade on Blade" roars right into high-pitched thrash, but then slows down with a long, soft, high guitar riff before roaring back into the first verse. It's a unique take from the last songs that stayed hard and fast throughout the beginning and most of the runtime. There's a sporadic, interesting duel between the vocal and guitar melodies which adds to the theme of the song. The guitar solo is among the most frenzied on the album. Thematically, this song is the best composed and fits the best with the theme.

"Shield Wall" has a slow, build-up opening for a short time. The song picks up pace ten seconds in. At this point, the songs are bleeding into each other. I will say that the more melodic, slightly slower song sets the song apart, but the speeding verse doesn't stand out from the rest of the album. The guitar solo is also distinctive since it has a lot of varying notes and compositions throughout, including background vocals for thematic elements. The closer, "Sword of Valhalla" is a typical extended final track, over 11 minutes long. It begins with a slow, soft guitar riff akin to the intro track; the riff, by the way, is an excellent hook as it sticks with you long after the track is done. It builds in intensity through the beginning with more guitars joining in the main melody. The melody ups the tempo when the intro reaches its zenith, seeming to double-up on the echo and speed in the melody. The lyrics are fast and hard-hitting, but the melody is unique against the backdrop of the instrumentals, a slower pace against racing guitars and drums. It's a fitting conclusion to the album in general.

Overall, the songs are more cohesive when they fit the singer. However, that compromises the integrity of the instrumentals, because to fit the singer, they need to be high and somewhat artificial. Despite this, the composition is all solid and the production is good.