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Alright... That's it... Move over Manowar, the German Manowar are back and knocking at your door. This is Majesty's third album, and second for Massacre Records. As for the previous two albums, this is loaded with Manowar-style heavy metal (without the overblown ego, I must say once again), and the band has purely and simply gotten better at it. While the subject matter sticks to "metal hymns" and cape-and-sword type of lyrics, there's been quite an improvement in the songwriting, the playing and most distinguishingly in the lead vocals which were already very good on the previous albums, but here the lead vocalist just shines - an almost flawless performance, except for a couple of instances where I don't really know what he was trying to accomplish. :)

While not really epic in length, most songs presented here still have some epic feeling to them, helped quite a bit by the anthemic style that characterises almost every song here. I found it extremely difficult to not start headbanging or even sing-along in my office while listening to such excellent, catchy songs as "Into the Stadiums", "Defender of the Brave", "Heroes" and "Trooper of Steel". Frankly, beside some over-enthusiastic drumming and guitars on "Heavy Metal Battlecry" that seem a bit too influenced by power metal, I didn't really find much to dislike on this album. (Note that this is not a shot against power metal, but I tend to prefer Majesty's more "traditional" material...)

Surprises? Beside the noticeable improvements, not really. Majesty stick to their proven formula, and therefore this album probably won't be of interest to those who disliked their first two offerings, but this should at the very least make their existing fans happy. And for those who got bored by the overdose of ballads on "Warriors of the World", this might just be the Manowar album you were waiting for - or close enough. Majesty carries the flame of "traditional" heavy metal, and does an excellent job at it.

The digipak version reviewed here includes a very good cover of Manowar's "Battle Hymn" as a bonus track. That makes up for the error I made in ordering the digipak instead of the jewel case version (not a fan of digipaks here. :))