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The United State's Warrion have taken the smooth, uber-melodic sounds of Finnish and Italian Power Metal and dragged it behind the tour bus for a few miles to scrape of some of the shiny veneer (and knocks almost all of Dave Hermion Dufort's keyboards right out). There are some grand melodies mixed in with the buzzy guitars, but they aren't so saccharine sweet that you'll need to reach for the insulin. Warrion sound like Kaledon, Celesty or Conquest without the keys. Musically, their debut, Awakening the Hydra, is decent though not earth-shattering, with vocals that have some issues. I admit to being surprised that the omnipresent Mike Vescera was behind the microphone, as I didn't recognize his voice, but despite being in the business for many years, he can still belt it out. The problems arise on songs like "Awakening the Hydra" and "Savage," where the vocal lines just don't really line up with what the instruments are playing. Something is slightly off in the mix. There's also "Serpent's Fire," a song sung by Aska vocalist George Call. George must have stubbed his toe quite badly to scream as high and for as long as he does on this song and frankly, it gets old quick and I started skipping this one every time I listened.

Overall, Awakening the Hydra is somewhat underwhelming melodic Power Metal that also has a few issues that will need to be addressed on the next release. Warrion present a mixed bag, so set your expectation appropriately.