It has been an incredible 13 years since I last reviewed an album from Australia's Black Majesty, one of the best and most consistent power metal bands in existence. Shame on me for assuming they'd find it difficult to match the high-water mark they set with Silent Company and In Your Honor and not track down subsequent albums.

2025 sees the release of their Oceans of Black record and I must admit that I was initially feeling like maybe my assumptions were accurate, but each time I listened, it became clear that I couldn't have been more wrong. This band still knows how to put the pedal to the metal and burn rubber with tracks like "Dragon Lord", "Set Stone on Fire" and the smashing CD bonus track "Ghost in the Darkness". Songs like the mid-tempo title track are no less capable of sucking you in with abundant hooks and emotion. It doesn't hurt that first-class vocalist John Cavaliere hasn't lost any of his power or presence and owns each and every verse and chorus. The musicianship is excellent with some stellar leads and if the songwriting can be described as "typical" for Black Majesty, it is so damn good, that hardly matters.

Power Metal is supposed to make your pulse race and spirit soar, and Black Majesty proves, once again, they are masters at creating music that does both. Is Oceans of Black as good as their early triumphs? I will leave that determination to the ears of the beholder, but if you are a power metal fan, you need a copy of Oceans of Black in your collection.