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At last. I can hardly believe it has been four long years since the release of Return of the Warrior. I have been waiting and waiting for this release, and finally, I can crank up my stereo and throw my fist in the fucking air for a new Ironsword album. Shadow Kingdom Records have quickly built a reputation for quality underground releases, and this may well cement it.

No progression, no evolution, Tann and his cohorts stand firmly in defiance of any trend or urge to change, never swerving from the Manilla Road/Omen worship they have built past glories upon. And you know, that is just fine with me. I wouldn't want them to change anyway, not at all. This is Regressive True Metal so stripped down and barbaric it sounds like it was made with stone fucking tools. This is the best production job the band has ever had, and it sounds huge and heavy as a war hammer. The songs at once tread their old ground while unveiling new levels of depth, and despite their go-for-the-throat approach there is a lot going on here that rewards repeated spins. Immediate killers like the title track, "Cimmeria", and "Fear The Night" give up nothing to tunes like "An Ending In Fire", "Blood And Honor", and the pounding "Hyperborean Hordes". The truth is there are just no bad songs on here, they all slay. The band even pulls out a ballad (yes, you heard me) with "The Pyre Of Kings", which is a genuinely touching tribute to Robert E Howard, making use of his death poem in the lyrics. Guest vocals from Mark Shelton on several tracks is the icing on this cake.

So if you crave iron-age, head-pounding metal with galloping riffs, barbaric vocals, and just a touch of the epic, then you need this. Fuck, everyone needs this. Buy it now, or you might as well cut off your dick and tattoo 'poser' on your ass.