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It's been many years since I last listened to Iron Fire and I remember their good, but generic, debut. Already on their sophomore effort they were headed in a slightly different direction and getting better. Fast forward to 2019 and we get Beyond the Void. It showcases a band that has stuck to its roots but has improved in pretty much all aspects of musicianship and songwriting, not necessarily being all that original but the songs here are for the most part expertly crafted and pretty cool to listen to.

Their early power metal base is still there but it's obvious that they've kept at mixing that with a gritty heavy metal sound that marries the early '80s with the cleaner, modern (not "sucky modern") production and playing of today. The drums are especially power metal-ish while the guitars have that crunchy, razor-sharp sound that I like better than what they did on their early recordings. The vocals are not the syrupy style either, again a bit on the gritty side and helping give the music a sharper edge while still filling them with great catchy melodies. Glad to see these guys are still going strong after all these years.