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Fourth album for the mighty Ironsword, after a seven-year wait since the awesome Overlords of Chaos from back in 2008. At first I was underwhelmed by this new one, but over a few weeks it has grown on me quite a lot. It still does not match their previous works, I just had to pick apart exactly how.

I think a lot of it is Ironsword have spent too much time on tour. Playing live is a very different environment for songwriting, and it tends to encourage what works best live - direct songs with pounding riffs and obvious choruses. All these songs sound very much like cuts off previous albums, with fewer of the catchy hooks and little surprises that used to spike their overall barbarian approach. The vocal lines are less catchy, and the riffs are all very similar and sound recycled from older works. These songs are all pure Ironsword, but they are very derivative of other Ironsword songs.

There are good songs here, and this does not in any way remotely suck. "Calm Before the Storm" has kickass riffs and a clever verse, but the chorus is just dull repetition. The title cut is solid, and closer "The Shadow Kingdom" is a more epic tune that would have been at home on Overlords. But too much of the rest of this album kind of runs together, and afterward you won't be humming songs from this album, but the old ones. Bit of a letdown, but still worth it for fans.