When they released their breakthrough album Defenders of the Crown waaaaay back in 2003, it looked like Human Fortress were on an upward path and would be a big deal in Power Metal circles for a while, but then they shit the bed with Eternal Empire and spent years doing lineup changes and label roulette before they got their act semi-together with Raided Land. What has followed have been pretty mediocre albums that are definitely Power Metal and definitely not bad, but they don't really grab you. Reign of Gold is another one of those.

This band's high point was long enough in the past that I have actual nostalgia for it, and I want them to make another really good disc, but this album is plagued by the same problems they have wrestled with since their "comeback" began: tepid songwriting, weak vocals, and songs that don't stand out from one another. This is the kind of Power Metal that the best thing you can say is that there's nothing really wrong with it. All of these songs are pretty slow or mid-paced, with similar riffs and similar keyboard sounds. Vocalist Gus Monsanto is not terrible, but he is not a front-and-center kind of singer who uplifts these tunes, and he spends too much time in his lower register just kind of grumbling through muddled vocal melodies, and when he goes for an upper note, he sounds strained. He lacks presence and charisma, and the mix buries him and overpowers him with backing tracks so you can hardly tell what he sounds like half the time.

Still, this album does have some bright spots, and on tracks like "Bullet of Betrayal" you can hear that light, sharp band they used to be. They can still do it, I just wish they did it more often.

You will note I am rating this not far below the much more beloved Defenders, and that's partly because I think I was too hard on that album, and it has grown in my estimation in the 22 years since it came out. I don't think Reign of Gold is going to get the same kind of grace. That said, Human Fortress have a new one just out, once again on Massacre records, and I intend to see if that one can be a real return to form. We'll have to see.