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A new power metal band hailing from Sweden, Lost Horizon seems to give a lot of importance to its image, with the band members wearing some paint that is not without reminding one of the movie Braveheart. So there we have the whole metal warriors image. Hey, I've seen worse! The cover art pretty much sucks though.

Musically, I can't say we're dealing with the most original band out there, as there's nothing in there I haven't heard before, and in some songs there was feeling of déjà vu (déjà heard?). They make up for the little lack of originality by playing very good music and playing very tight - add to that a very good production. The vocals are clean, power metal-style, often hitting the high notes but not overdoing it either. The singer seems to have practically perfect control of his voice.

The usual power metal elements are all here, so this is pretty much "happy sounding" (not the best term, but you get the picture) and also very entertaining. Lots of very good, catchy guitars riffs, powerful drumming, and they also don't overdo the choirs. Worth noting is that they don't fall into the keyboard abuse that some power metal bands have been overusing in recent releases. Who needs keyboards anyway (I'm tempted to start using the term "keybored" that fellow metaller Dale Roy of Canadian Assault fanzine uses a lot in his zine!) Very good debut album, and I don't see any reason for power metal fans not to like this. There are also a number of heavy metal influences in there that could make the band appealing to heavy metal fans who are not necessarily much into power metal. Anyway, Lost Horizon do live up to the hype surrounding the band. Recommended.