For reasons unexplained, British power metal has seemed to go underground. There is still quite a scene, yet nobody seems to know about it, but it’s bands like Damnation Angels who are determined to let Europe and the world know that there is still life in British power metal yet – and 2 years after the release of the band’s epic effort ‘Bringer of Light’, they have returned to try and prove that point with ‘The Valiant Fire’.
The album wastes absolutely no time in bringing the epic to life, with a massive build up in the opening track ‘Finding Requiem‘ to a bombastic and furious intro. Since the last Damnation Angels album, vocalist Per Fredrik ‘Pelle K’ Åsly has been gaining quite a following on YouTube with his vocal covers and solo music, which could arguably be a focal point on the album for many. There’s no doubt about it though, the band are not using his new found fame to bring attention to ‘The Valiant Fire‘, this is all about writing the best damn prog power record and delivering a solid listening experience, and the band have done just that.
‘The Valiant Fire‘ is truly an impressive piece for a variety of generally elusive reasons. I believe the album did not have the budget that Nightwish or Rhapsody would have, and I am under the impression that all the orchestration is synthetic. If this is the case, the band deserve nothing but admiration for managing to deliver such a theatrical orchestra experience on keyboards alone. The songwriting on the album is clash of massive stadium chorus’ making full use of Pelle K’s diversified range, and keeping the progression of a story with unexpected twists and turns in the music. Tracks such as ‘Icarus Syndrome’, ‘This Is Who We Are’, and ‘Closure’ are perfect representations of the epic proportions and passion brought forth on the album.
The musicianship on the album is an engineered effort built around the orchestrations to enhance them, yet also demonstrate a varied palette of guitar work on track’s such as ‘Closure‘, not just limiting the instruments to the typical power metal sound of one note ringing guitars on choruses and chugging on verses. Riffs are thrown around like candy and shredding solos cutting like a knife through butter.
While the only blemishes on the album are noticeably similar tempos throughout and a little bit of flat vocal mixes, Damnation Angels have certainly have produced a huge effort here. Where it’s predecessor ‘Bringer of Light‘ had its shortcomings, they have been patched up by a beautiful, flowing piece of progressive power metal. ‘The Valiant Fire’ is a pure work of art, and with the perfectly rendered symphonies being a highlight, the album has been crafted so well that it would make Luca Turilli shake a fist in envy.
A definite must for fans of progressive, power and theatrical metal!
