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: : Hordes Of The Brave : :
Speaking of BIG things you have never heard of,
let’s talk about Belgium’s Iron Mask, a band that is really the
brainchild of guitar wiz Dushan Petrossi. Dushan who you say? You know
the drill: first guitar at age 9, instrument becomes embedded in his
hands, his heart and his soul, first heavy metal song at age 15, bounced
around from band to band until he started the prog-symphonic group Magic
Kingdom. Signed to Lion Music in 2002 Dushan created his “side” project
Iron Mask basing the band name as well as the songs from that first
album (Revenge Is My Name) on the famous book “Man in the Iron Mask”.
Now here we are with album number 2 titled Hordes Of The Brave, which is
a tribute to the famous warrior Alexander The Great.
 “Holy
War” starts things off and the first thing you will notice is the BIG
sound both musically and vocally. “Freedom’s Blood-The Patriot” is
filled with ELO like keyboard solos and enough guitar work to fill a
large lake. “Time” slows things down a bit to make room for the fourth
track “The Invisible Empire”. I defy you to play this song for anyone
and have them not think that David Coverdale (Whitesnake) is doing the
singing. Speaking of that, their sound is of the power metal ilk. I’m
thinking of the soul of Whitesnake meets the muscle of Yngwie Malmsteen
with the creativity of Dio or Iron Maiden as a backbone. Most of the
tracks are extremely likeable, memorable, and easy to wrap your ears
around. Now mind you we are not breaking any barriers down here with
some new sound, or innovative twist to the proven recipe. They are
making BIG metal music with BIG ideas and even LARGER musical
abilities. Tracks 5-8 keep things moving, while track 9, “Iced Winds of
the North” uses a thunderstorm and tolling bells to increase the
atmosphere. “My Eternal Flame” is a ballad and the last track “Troops
Of Avalon”
closes things out with a fast, intense groove.
Lyrics run the gamut from defending your beliefs, to the sky and the
mountains, to kings and witches, strength, love (of course), and all
things mystical. Obviously from Dushan’s history the guitar rules the
roost, but the other band members are not just regular guys thrown in
for filler. Dushan handpicked these players to bring his epic to life.
This is BIG, HUGE power metal chock filled with enough guitar soloing to
keep you busy for a long, long time. The vocals are more than competent
and the overall sound is superb. Hordes is truly a fun listen harkening
to the days of late 80’s heavy metal.
8 out of 10.
Reviewer - Lord M
: : Visit the Artist’s Website : :
: : Discography : :
Revenge Is My Name - 2002
Hordes Of The Brave - 2005 |
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