It's actually cool that more and more bands play traditional Heavy Metal without feeling too studied and put the right way just to reach some Rock Star status. Austrian VALSANS who released "Sword" during the spring is another in that line. The album was actually released by the band themselves during 2010 and now they have the album out via Pure Steel Records.

The good thing with VALSANS is that they have a bunch of decent songs, "Lady Of The Lake" was easily my favorite but there are a lot more really decent and very catchy songs on the album. "Eyes Of The Viper" has real resemblances with the 80s ACCEPT, "Metal Crusade" is both faster and harder but could be tagged in the same genre too. So far so good!

One thing that really bothers me about VALSANS is the attitude throughout their performance, especially in a song as "Mjölnir". If you sing about one of the mightiest tools in the whole wide world it cannot be cheesy and happy-go-lucky attitude, behind a song like that there is a need to be a raw force and that is not the case here. I have a little hard time with all bands that has lost what I feel is the essence of Heavy Metal, power and drive, like much of the late 90s and 21^st Century Power Metal like EDGUY and FREEDOM CALL. Both bands have great songs but it is way too lightweight and cheerful for my taste.

Even if VALSANS is way more traditional Metal than the mentioned bands, the feeling in the music is the same. A little more dynamic playing would have made a huge difference for me. There's nothing to complain about really when it comes to the performance, I guess this is what VALSANS wanted with the "Sword" album and that is fine. It is a good album, it holds some real quality songs but it's not the style for me.