I may or not be a spoiled Power Metal fan. Let's face it I was bombarded by bands and albums in the mid to late nineties. I might not have been the biggest Power Metal fan back them (my older brother was). I discovered so many bands back then and as a Metal fan since 1993, I was not keen on the style and it took me a number of years to truly appreciate some of the bands (lets be honest, not all bands are good). I may have been out of the loop a bit in the last few years in the genre. I have brodend my horizons so to speak and I do listen occasionally to some Power Metal and I do crank my stereo sometimes while listening to some of the classics I grew up with. So that may be one of the reasons why I tend not to be impressed with what is out there nowadays. Like I said, I may have been too spoiled for my own good.

WARKINGS are a Power Metal band comprised of members from all over the globe. Their lead singer Tribune aka Georg Neuhauser is also the lead singer of the Austrian Symphonic Progressive Power Metal band, SERENITY. As for the other three members of the band, not much is known about the real identities and if they are part of other bands out there. This is their second full-length album in only two years of existence. I have seen countless posts about them on the internet and message boards and various videos posted on the Napalm Records YouTube page. I have always been quite curious about them and usually Napalm Records brings forth some quality bands and they don't sign anyone to a contract. They are really a high maintenance record label that takes the cream of the crop in Hard Rock and Metal so I know I had some high expectations on the forefront. I was obviously not disappointed at all, and all the hype was real.

The Queen of the Damned Melissa Bonny channeling her inner Angela Gossow on ''Odin's Sons'' is a sight to behold. On the first single off the new album, it breaks any misconceptions om the band itself. The contrast with her growls and the amazing Tribune is something else. The music is reminiscent of a mix of ARCH ENEMY and old school JUDAS PRIEST. It's like if you added some Melodic Death Metal elements to a band like PRIMAL FEAR, it actually meshes really well together. I was pleasantly surprised.

Tribune really shines on the other single called ''Warriors'', he could have been a great singer for Yngwie Malmsteen back in the day and his such command in his voice. He is able to channel a lot of emotions, something lacking from a number of new Power Metal bands out there. You have to have a great singer in this genre, because if not, it's going to be sluggish. He reminds me a lot of Tony Kakko from SONATA ARCTICA or Roy Khan from KAMELOT. There are times where he becomes a bit of chameleon and you can't even really even tell that the vocals are performed by the same person. In the song ''Mirror, Mirror'' he hits the highest note on the album towards the middle of the track and sounds pretty much exactly like classic Tony Kakko.

You have a number of these fist pumping melodic numbers that feel more driven, with high flying melodic guitars from Crusader and more intensity in the vocal delivery from Georg Neuhauser - and a shout out to speedy ''Warking'' toward the end of the album as well; that's sweet epicness right there. Every song on the album is around four minutes making the listen kind of blocky and linear. While it's fine in straightforward songs like ''Freedom'' it makes others seem like they lack that climactic zenith they should have. So they're obviously aiming for an epic sound, but meanwhile wanting to placate a short attention span audience making some songs stand out more than others.

One of the more impressive Epic Power Metal albums I've heard in the last few years, insightful lyrics, emotion, passion and it passes so fast. It could have been longer persay, 40 minutes does pass by quite quickly but you tend to revisit some songs after your first listening, it's that good.