Review POWER PALADIN ‘With the Magic of Windfyre Steel’

It is the mountains, the mist-shrouded peaks, the waterfalls and the rugged landscape that have influenced and continue to influence Iceland’s heavy metal. Dark and gloomy, that is what characterizes the sound of many bands from the far north. A style that was not really present, that is power metal, especially if it is also equipped with a solid range of melodies. This will come to an end in 2022 because Power Paladin have made it their mission to make traditional power metal from Iceland popular.

The Icelandic capital Reykjavik, that’s the homebase for the sextet which delivers with ‘With the Magic of Windfyre Steel ‘ an impressive debut album. Formed in 2017 as Paladin, the guys got back to work after renaming themselves to Power Paladin. With ‘Kraven the Hunter’, a first song was released in 2020 which caught the attention of Atomic Fire Records, among others. And what fits better together than a rather new band and a newly founded label. First ‘Kraven the Hunter’ was enriched with another song to become an appetizer, before now the first full-length album makes the hearts of melodic metal fans beat faster.

What Power Paladin delivers is certainly substantial, which is even more astonishing considering the fact that the margin for innovation in this genre is very limited. One has already heard a lot. Nevertheless, the six Icelanders are able to impress, which is mainly due to the brilliant songs such as ‘Into the Forbidden Forest’.

If you take the awesomeness of Helloween, the tempo of Dragonforce and the anthemic approach of Hammerfall, you end up with Power Paladin. Outstanding in this context is the blazing fast ‘Righteous Fury’, the powerful ‘Dark Crystal’ and epic ‘There Can be Only One’, which finishes the album.

‘With the Magic oft he Windfyre Steel’ the metal year 2022 starts in a very well-done and promising way. Power Paladin deliver an album that immediately makes them the genre leader in Iceland. Moreover, the debut has the potential to conquer the hearts of metal fans beyond Iceland. This album leaves you hungry for more.