Album Review: Iron Savior - Skycrest
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
When it comes to heavy metal there are two areas where Germany excels - its punishing thrash metal movement and of course power metal. Despite not being as revered as German power metal pioneers such as Helloween, Blind Guardian and Gamma Ray, Iron Savior have been a power metal stronghold since their inception in 1996. They have released a successful stream of strong and dependable power metal albums and 2020 brings us their thirteenth album Skycrest.
Skycrest is an album that is born out of adversity. Not only have the band had the coronavirus to contend with but bassist Jan-Sören Eckert has been seriously ill battling cancer. A battle he very fortunately survived. Despite the very negative circumstances of this album it is still bristling with power and positivity with the band managing to recapture their spirit or as frontman Piet Sielck puts it “depression is not us”. This overcoming of bad circumstances invigorates Skycrest and it proves to be another remarkably strong outing for the band. After the wonderful pomposity of intro The Guardian we are blasted in the face by the glorious riffing and double kick drumming that kicks off the powerhouse title track. Once the melodic yet raspy vocals of Piet kick in and we get a huge chorus that oozes positivity it is pretty hard not to have a smile on your face. It is very much a statement of intent by Iron Savior. This is German power metal and it sounds fucking great. Skycrest like all other Iron Savior albums sticks to what it does best which is high energy power metal with crunchy riffing, powerful guitar solos, massive hooks and epic choruses. It is solid throughout with highlights being the fist pumping Soul Eater (which was released as a single earlier in the month), the anthemic There Can Be Only One with lyrical content inspired by the Highlander movie and the heavy metal anthem Raise The Flag which leans far more into a traditional Teutonic heavy metal sound. We also get a good power ballad Ease Your Pain where Jan-Sören Eckert takes the lead on the vocals and puts in an emotionally charged performance powered by the ordeal he has gone through this year.
Iron Savior have always been a dependable band when it comes to quality German power metal and Skycrest is no exception. It doesn’t stray from what Iron Savior has done before and won’t change the minds of anyone who does not like this style of metal. If you do like your power metal and like it on the guitar driven and energetic side then you can do no wrong with Skycrest. It’s another strong and commendable album in the Iron Savior discography.
