Belgian guitar whiz Dushan Petrossi continues his love affair with epic based power metal, as Iron Mask’s latest recording delves into twelve new songs. The Fifth Son of Winterdom carves out an impressive array of captivating sounds and epic melodies, proving the band’s love affair is 100% genuine.
What you get on this release are catchy songs, brimming with high energy and revelling in the power metal ethos. Bands of this ilk can become tiresome quickly, but Iron Mask rarely disappoints, nor do they ever sound boring. The opening number “Back into Mystery” is a lively piece, setting up the tempo and giving way into the rousing “Like a Lion in a Cage” exhibiting Petrossi’s neo-classical guitar style. In fact several tracks showcase the guitarist’s abilities and this is what I truly find exciting about Iron Mask.
Other tracks like “Seven Samurai” find that progressive touch to advance the melody in unique ways, while “Fifth Son of Winterdom” is a sprawling 10 minute epic that funnels a powerful narrative and delivers a catchy melody to boot. My favorite track is “The Picture of Dorian Grey” just because of its literary pedigree and how dark the material is, so adapting it into a song was a brilliant stroke of genius. This is easily my favorite track on the album and Petrossi and company deliver a masterpiece.
The Fifth Son of Winterdom may not reinvent the wheel in terms of the power metal template, but they continue to create satisfying music with every new release. Singer Mark Boals sounds passionate on most tracks and Andreas Lindhal provides some stellar work on the keys. Overall Iron Mask creates effective melodies and memorable choruses and this album will not disappoint fans of the genre.
Kenneth Gallant, Editor HMS
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