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After a listen to the advance clips of the songs here, I was all set to love this even more than "Condition Red", but I have to say the full album does not quite hold up to that stellar release. This is the sixth album for Iron Savior, who started out as a sort of project by mainman Piet Sielck and his buddy Kai Hansen – who you may know from his better-known act Gamma Ray.

This is pedal to the metal all the frigging way, and I have to temper my disappointment that this is not as good as the last album with a proper appreciation of just how good this is anyway. The title track starts things off in the best style possible with hammering riffs and awesome vocal lines that I think make this simply an almost perfect metal song. Heavy licks, great leads, and a chorus so insanely catchy it should go on a spaceship and be shipped to Alpha Centauri so that future ages will know all about METAL.

If the rest of the CD was this good it would be a five-star album, no question, but the rest of the tracks are a bit of a step down from the killer opener. "Stand Against The King" is a good song, but not as good. "Tyranny Of Steel" comes close, but lacks the super-memorable chorus. "Time Will Tell" has an awesome riff, but a chorus that is actually a bit irritating. "Wings Of Deliverance" is another song that really delivers. As is the slow and almost doomy "Machine World" – a riff-heavy, groove laden song that smokes anything else out of the frigging water. Sadly, we are saddled with several so-so songs like the dull "Break The Curse" and the rest of the tracks, which are neither bad, nor good enough to stand out.

So here you get about 4 absolute killers, about 4 decent tunes, and only 2 clinkers. And with Iron Savior, even the clinkers are not bad at all. Even when they are just going through the motions, this band could kill 75% of the bands on earth and leave them smoking in ruins. If you think metal is dead, crank up "Battering Ram" and call me when you can speak again. Wuss.