I was not surprised to learn Ancient Trail hails from Italy as the power metal they play on their debut album, The Ancient Force, is very much in line with the highly melodic, neo-classical music that country is known for exporting. There are some different touches, like the modern prog sounds of "Nightmare" where the guitars sound a bit down tuned, or the sinewy bass lines of "Dreams in Chains...Never Ending" that have Manowar bassist Joey DeMaio's fingerprints all over them. Mostly, the songs are "happy" power metal ear candy, like "Immortal Stars" with its double kick drums and soaring chorus. The songwriting is good, but not anything that hasn't been done before or done so well you'll be replacing any of your existing favorites. A polished and entertaining debut that hasn't separated themselves from the pack just yet.