Review IRON FATE ‘Crimson Messiah’

One year as Crypteria and since 2005 as Iron Fate, monikers that stand for remarkable power metal from Germany. Goslar in Lower Saxony is the home of a quintet that premiered in 2010 with an album called ‘Cast in Iron’. If one expected the sophomore album rather quickly might have been disappointed since it took Iron fate 11 years to return with their second release.

Sharp before Christmas ‘Crimson Messiah’ will hit the shelves, a ten-track featuring longplayer that combines US metal with traditional power metal. After dropping the needle, it is the title track being the musical portal to ‘Crimson Messiah’. What is noticeable right away is that Iron Fate has with Denis Brosowski an excellent metal singer in their line-up. Especially the high pitch screams are pure metal and enrich the sound of Iron Fate. Mentioning vocals, there is a guest that can be heard on ‘Crossing Shores’. No less than Jag Panzer frontman ‘Harry “The Tyrant” Conklin added a few vocal parts which also speaks to the quality of the German metal force.

Another song to mention is ‘Strangers (In My Mind)’. With a running time of nearly 10 minutes the song belongs to the highlights of the album. When listening to the beginning I was reminded of the earlier Queensrÿche which also has to do with Brosowski’s voice and intonation. Slowly the song builds up and is a good representative of what Iron Fate stands for musically. A galloping beat and furious guitar solos are what characterize the second half of an epos that shows the songwriting skills of Iron Fate.

‘Crimson Messiah’ is a metal album that brings the best of US metal and power metal to forefront. Blistering guitars and excellent vocals are the key elements of Iron Fate. The quintet makes good use of those ingredients which leads to an album that leads to a strong wish of headbanging. Horns up.