WISHDOOM is described in their bio sheet as a Viking metal band. They are from Greece. I will tell you one thing for certain they have the best song titles for this type of band that I have ever seen. If you are into this genre, I cannot see how you could possibly look at the song titles and not grin like a fool. You have a song about the son on Crom which is possibly a reference to Conan the Barbarian, who happens to be my favorite fictional character of all time. That automatically got an extra point from me, so consider the agenda admitted to. Then there are songs about Zeus and Steel. Is this MANOWAR? No, but it is still pretty good. So being a Viking metal band as far as WISHDOOM is concerned means being a power metal band without the fast drumming that is associated with "power". Old school power metal sings about these same topics and still does, but Viking metal is slower even if the topics are quite similar.

The production on this album is pretty old school. It reminds me of MANOWAR from their first album right until Fighting the World. I can see these guys wearing loincloths on stage and carrying swords around. The sound is authentic and it never sounds cheesy to me. The mythology inherent in the genre has always been one of the major factors that drew me to this style of music around 20 years ago. It's actually really cool to hear it played now exactly as it was back then. This album is like a trip in a time machine. The vocalist is great for the style. Nice clean vocals without high pitched shrieking screams or death metal growls. Acoustic guitar replaces what otherwise might be keyboards in that they are used for intros in some of the songs (although you do get a piano for a few seconds in one song). Not every track starts off like a beast. The song "Guardians of Steel" is very MANOWAR like, it even has the epic choir backing vocals like you can hear on so many of their songs. It's well done and fits in perfectly. It's refreshing to hear old school metal like this. I could also through in a comparison to Virgin Steele if I wanted to, I guess I just did. The solos are very well played. So in this song "Guardians of Steel", you have the mention of blood, steel, fighting, shields, brothers, and finally, the power of metal. Yes you have heard it before, but who cares? Here it is again, DEAL with it!

If you are a fan of Viking metal, it doesn't get much better than this. This genre is played to perfection by WISHDOOM. All the stereotypes and clichΓ©'s are present and accounted for, and it is all the better for it. I would love to see these guys play in concert, but I doubt they will come to the states anytime soon. Hopefully they will put out a live DVD one day. It would be great to see these guys do well enough for that to happen. I feel they deserve it. HELEPOLIS really is a pleasant surprise. Pick it up when it comes out. You won't regret it.