Band:	Iron Savior
Album:	Titancraft
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	May 20, 2016
A review by:	Belegûr

01. Under Siege (Intro)
02. Titancraft
03. Way Of The Blade
04. Seize The Day
05. Gunsmoke
06. Beyond The Horizon
07. The Sun Won't Rise In Hell
08. Strike Down The Tyranny
09. Brother In Arms
10. R&R Addiction [limited edition bonus]
11. I Surrender
12. Rebellious
13. Protector [2016 version] [limited edition bonus]

Iron Savior return with their 9th studio album and very little has changed. I didn't go into Titancraft expecting anything dramatically different from Rise Of The Hero or The Landing. Everything down to the generic Felipe Machado Franco cover art remains pretty much the same. As is with the case with many German power metal bands, lack of originality can be overlooked in favour of uplifting and catchy anthems. This is something Iron Savior have excelled at for years and they continue that tradition.

What impresses me about the band is the mix of Running Wild style speed metal and Gamma Ray power metal songwriting. Tracks like "Titancraft" and "Seize The Day" would not be out of place on a 90's Gamma Ray album, but "The Sun Won't Rise In Hell" is just classic heavy metal. This does make the 50 minute runtime feel a little less exhausting.

The excellent production and catchy choruses certainly stand out and make the throwaway lyrics work. With the 9th studio album, we are still hearing about Atlantis, the ship called Iron Savior and I personally stopped caring about this story 8 albums ago. It is just fortunate that the songs are still well made and kept me from laughing at the lyrics to songs like "Gunsmoke" and "Way Of The Blade".

As you can probably tell, there isn't a massive amount to discuss with "Titancraft". This is a typical Iron Savior album. It is melodic, stuffed with heroic choruses, sound effects and dive bomb solos. Those who enjoy the work of the band will not be disappointed and I will freely claim that Iron Savior are one of the best power metal bands out there for grabbing you by the balls from the opening moments of their albums. Not a masterpiece by any means, but it's another solid effort.