Band:	Stormhammer
Album:	Echoes Of A Lost Paradise
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	June 2015

01. Rememberance
02. Glory Halls Of Valhalla
03. Fast Life
04. Echoes Of A Lost Paradise
05. Leaving
06. Bloody Tears
07. Holy War
08. Black Clouds
09. Into Darkest Void
10. Promises
11. Stormrider
12. The Ocean

A German power metal band with the name Stormhammer, what could possibly go wrong? The Germans aren't lacking for amazing power metal, but sadly bands like Stormhammer make up the second or third-string acts that never leave the stages of mediocrity. Echoes Of A Lost Paradise is a fantastic example of subpar and forgettable power metal.

Stormhammer aren't new to the scene, having formed in the early 90's by guitarist Manny Ewender and bassist Horst Tessman. This is their fifth full-length album and the debut of vocalist Jürgen Dachl, guitarist Bernd Intveen and drummer Chris Widmann. I'd always considered Majesty to be a sort of second rate German Manowar. Well now I consider Stormhammer to be a second rate Majesty. It's like taking the worst of early Blind Guardian, adding a boring vocalist and making sure the production is even worse.

Things start off so well as the distant horns sound with marching drums. The intro "Remembrance" builds and builds, adding choirs and all the trademarks of a power metal album intro. "Glory Halls Of Valhalla" then kicks in?with its own intro. This is puzzling and sounds completely off. What's the point in having a big intro that builds up then disappears when the next tracks intro starts? Fellow German power metal bands Helloween and Gamma Ray seem to have mastered the epic intro to fast 2nd track formula. Stormhammer couldn't even get that right. Things get worse as the lyrics "They have to prove their mettle in a stupid useless battle" are yelled into your ears. The lyrics are completely terrible throughout and there aren't even any riffs or melodies that stand out to distract you from them. Tracks like "Holy War" and "Promises" do show some quality and sound quite folkish in parts. They still aren't very memorable though.

Poor production throughout is accompanied by a vocalist who sounds like his timing is completely off in places. He sounds like he's singing along to the album and hasn't quite mastered the songs yet. Yes it may sound like I'm being overly harsh, but there is nothing here that stands out. Even the decent riffs found on tracks like "Fast Life" and "Stormrider" have already been done better by countless bands such as Grave Digger and Running Wild. It's 1 hour of mediocre metal with a bad vocalist and awful production. I'm absolutely baffled that a band could make it to their 5th studio album when they are making albums like this.

So instead of giving Echoes Of A Lost Paradise a try, throw on some early Blind Guardian or even some Metalium. There are plenty of top tier German power metal bands that demand your attention. This is a stale album with monotonous vocals, generic lyrics, horrid production, and absolutely nothing positive that makes it stand out in the saturated power metal scene.