Risen from the depths, “Hell Walker” by TYRAELS ASCENSION creates its own world and drags you into the experience of a rich story full of adventure and danger. The album sounds like it was created by explosions and lightning forever cementing itself as a perilous, yet tantalising journey through a fantasy realm. The story of the album sequels another creation of the band (more specifically, band member Kevin McNeil of Kisimul Studios), a game of the same name which provides context to and a deeper knowledge of “Hell Walker”. Such creative prowess deserves so much credit and with the stories aligning with an album so epic, you’ll be hard pressed to find a band in a better position to blast themselves into the limelight of the world of heavy metal for years to come.  

The album alone is enough to put people into a state of mindless frenzy due to its driving drum parts and majestic guitars. The first song “The Prophecy” instantly throws you into Satan’s homeland, full of fire and fury, with its hellish riffs and utterly brilliant lead guitar parts. This song is a wonderful introduction to the story that is “Hell Walker”. There is a theme of fast paced and weaving guitars in this album, but when we get to “Descent” a monster is borne from the opening riff to this track. The dissonant harmonies really take the listener by surprise, suggesting an experimental approach to riff writing at times, and to make things better, this madness is followed by one of the most melodically beautiful sections with a blockbuster of a solo to add the cherry to the top of the proverbial cake. Influences from TRIVIUM are definitely at play here, especially when listening to “Architect”, a song that will take you back to the glorious noughties' years. The band progress through the album to songs such as “Prelude to War / The Art of War” really showcasing the sophisticated songwriting skills that they have.

What is a constant throughout this album is lead guitar melodies that give so much character to the songs and show every listener the true identity of this band. This is shown in the track “Holy Fire” which starts by jumping out at you with its teeth bared and claws extended, a short burst of uncontrolled temper quickly reeling back in. Quite the opposite of “Inferno”, a track that harbors rage with what is typically “Hell Walker-ish" pace and a relentlessness that will make even the Gods falter. Despite this, there is another example of what this band can do when it comes to soft melodic sections involving acoustic guitars. The middle to end section again decides to take its own path and make the listener forget that they were listening to music that only demons could create. In fact, this song perfectly sets the listener up for their ascent out of the fire pits which is facilitated by the final track “Time of the Witcher”, a lovely instrumental piece that rounds off the album with such accomplishment that it provides a satisfying end to what has been one hell of a journey.