Compilations never were my forte. With the explosion of the Internet, they tend towards extinction since nowadays it is quite easy to listen to music of any band from around the world (and I don't mean illegal downloading - all the bands that respect themselves have a website with sound samples). Risestar is a promotion company in Chile. Part of their promotional plans are these compilations. The Iron Force Vol. II is the... second compilation they've released in order to promote their bands. Let's have a walkthrough...
Toxic Virgin - Evil Days: typical melodic Power Metal. Brings in mind several archetypes of the genre. Musically speaking it is very good but the vocals take a lot of improvement. Queensryche / Crimson Glory fans should give them a try.
Bloden Wedd - Lone Runner: terrible production but a good song. Describing them as a speed Power Metal band is the best way to go. Good vocals, generally sounds like a Helloween Walls Of Jericho Era type of band. Good but if they continue playing in the same speed all the time they will give you a headache.
Hybernia - Triste Final: Ouch! This is in Spanish; sorry no comprendo Espanol. Is it my idea or do many bands from Spain play this Epic / Power Metal mixture? Without being bad, I have heard this before by their fellow countrymen.
Khigh - Too Late: is their name written wrong in the credits? Anyway. Terrible production (you only hear a fuzzed guitar and vocals - where are the drums?). Trying to be Stoner Rock but does not convince me. Their singer is too much of a poser (in a good way).
Cold Sweat - Heavy Streets: the calendar says 2005 but Cold Sweat have an old one that says 1980. 80's production, 80's Heavy Rock. Maybe with a modern production this would be more enjoyable. The vocals are way in front. Typical.
Delta - Burning Soul: cool keyboard melody in the beginning. Bad production. Their singer sounds (at least tries to) like Blackie (you know who I am talking about). They don't sound confident enough on what they want to play. Is it Hard Rock?
Medusa's Child - Center Of The Dark: I have heard an album by those dudes before. This is not one of their best tracks since it sounds a bit typical Power Metal. It has a very good refrain however. I advise you to check them out - they are really interesting.
Beautiful Betrayal - My Bleeding Scars: Something interesting from Finland. Power Rock with female vocals. Quite groovy song. The production could have been better though.
In Heaven - Betrayed: their debut Darchangel is coming soon and will kick ass! Gothic Metal with female vocals and some grunts. The specific song has a haunting rhythm and has a really modern touch. Definitely a must have for the fans of Atmospheric Metal / Gothic Rock.
The Hourglass - Deceptive: They hail form Syria (!) and they already have one album in their arsenal. Definitely not the best production in the world but amazing song in classic heavy / epic Metal patterns.
Trioxia - The Eternal Return: They want to sound modern but their U.S. Power Metal roots don't help them at all (just check out the refrain).
Then we have what is described as bonus tracks (bonus tracks in a compilation? Here's something I don't get to see everyday). Aesthesia from the USA is a Hard Rock band. Definitely an interesting listen for fans of bands like Firehouse or Trixter (where did I remember those guys, don't ask me). Great vocals and guitar work. The other band is Pharaos from Germany that play Hard Rock, a bit dirtier than Aesthesia. I didn't like their songs since I found them having a bit of a forced perspective. Their vocalist needs a lot of work.
With almost 75 minutes of running time, this compilation is a fine way to get to know more than a dozen bands.