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I always go into a new Iron Savior album with relatively low expectations. Not because they’ve released a bona fide bad album in the past, but their career started off so strong—those early albums really set the bar high—and they’ve been a staple of my road trips for the best of two decades. Firestar didn’t grab me at all at first and it took 3–4 listens before some songs really grabbed my attention. But yeah, most of the signature Iron Savior sound is in there. Piet’s vocals still sound great and the guy as a knack for singalong-inducing melodies. Lots of speed and heaviness, upbeat, catchy enough, a very clean, polished sound, and well-honed songwriting. It’s a very positive-sounding album that can help get your spirits up on a bad day. What I do miss on this album is some of their older songs that were a bit darker; here we basically have "happy power metal"—not that there’s anything wrong with that. Long story short, it’s not an album I remember much once it’s over, but it’s a lot of fun while it’s on.