Bakken-Death of a Hero

I feel like it has been far too long since I've gotten to review a solid power metal release Yet now with Bakken's modern classic Death of a Hero my lust for dragons, kings, diamonds, and rings has been sated. The latest band to release a record with Future PR  on Death of a Hero Bakken prove themselves to be excellent power metal musicians with a healthy respect of the masters of the genre. A masterwork from a young band from Northern Ireland this record is a most excellent debut, fusing a variety of styles with great musicianship. The end result is a powerful and bombastic release that is often tinged with elements of modern metal.

The Helloween inspired sound of this band is fabulous, it hearkens back to 80s speed metal bands yet is often touched with the sounds of power metal groups like Iron Maiden or Gamma Ray. The often jazzy soloing is incredibly tasty and can be reminiscent of Alex Skolnicks playing with Testament. I particularly like the solo on the 8 minute plus epic Darkest Day. The lyrics on this record are very often in a fantasy vein and song titles like Fortress of Evil and The Cursed make this blatantly clear. I'd also like to point out the inherently progressive nature of the band, they have quite a few rather long songs yet with a plethora of solos and tons of riffs they always stay fresh and interesting.

To finish, the epic sounds of Bakken show hope for the Irish power metal scene. With a sound tinged by thrash, modern metal and even elements of melodic death metal., most fans of lighter metal, both new and old, should very much enjoy this record.  The flow of the album is great too, with some longer songs slotting in nicely next to shorter rockers, as a whole Death of a Hero provides an impressive variety and is an extremely promising debut. Cap it off with an explosive guitar attack and very impressive songwriting and you have a very strong back to the roots power metal record.

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