CD review IRON SAVIOR ‘Skycrest’

A band that never disappoints is Iron Savior, hailing from ‘Hamburg Rock City’. Piet Sielck and bandmates never exchanged a ‘feet firmly on the ground’-approach for something fancy and illusionary. With the willpower of a harbor-worker and a down to earth mindset, the quartet belongs to the important players in German metal.

With ‘Skycrest’, a new album is right in the starting blocks, waiting for a shipment to the local record dealers. Working on the album wasn’t a smooth ride and maybe this is a factor for the album becoming so strong.

Song ideas have been generated and put aside, just to pick them up later on again, bassist Jan had to face a serious illness and last but not least COVID put all live activity on pause. Iron Savior though keep the chin up also in challenging times and return stronger than ever.

After the intro ‘Guardian’ brings you into the right mood for this album, it is the title track that blast right in the beginning. The songs gets out of the box extremely well, a song like an arrow. Next to pace the songs also delights with melodies, manifested in a chorus that reminds with its bombastic expression of bands like Blind Guardian.

A bit more anchored in moderate pace, while keeping the intensity high, is what fans get with songs like ‘Hellbreaker’, followed by ‘Souleater’. The latter has been unveiled as single already prior to release and is a mighty pounding metal anthem with enormous riff power.

What’s noticeable with these songs as well as with the entire album is the positivism. Not being steered by the Corona depression, the band obviously enjoys playing heavy metal, a spirit that certainly helps to get through these days of darkness with laser-sharp riffs being the ultimate tool.

A song that is special on ‘Skycrest’ is named ‘Ease Your Pain’. It is a ballad and it is Jan Eckert singing. The tune is a soulful one that’s personal and touching. The final riff assault – ‘Ode to the Brave’ is the last in line, the grande finale. “As long as the fire’s burning…” the story of heavy metal will be enriched and told, Iron Savior is certainly a part of it and ‘Skycrest’ underlines why records of the band should be part of every metal collection.