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Denmark's favorite Power Metal band Iron Fire is back with their eight full-length album after a 4-year break since the last release. Only they aren't so much a Power Metal band on Among the Dead as Martin Steene and company have moved into Thrash territory. Iron Fire was always at the crunchy end of the Power spectrum but the staccato riffing on tracks like "Hammer of the Gods" and "Iron Eagle" has more grit than we've ever heard from them before. Steene employs a throaty growl throughout the album, foregoing his usual melodic, Johnny Rotten sneer. His vocal lines on "Tornado of Sickness" make him sound a lot like Dave Mustaine and the soloing on "The Last Surviror" are from the Marty Friedman book. Iron Fire busts out the Thrash lyrical themes like zombies ("Among the Dead"), abuse ("Made to Suffer") and general societal pessimism ("The Last Survivor") and throw in a cover of Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls," one that is passable but not great, and the transformation is well on its way.

I'm not sure if this is the new direction for Iron Fire or just the way the muse spoke to Steene and company this time around but, while good for a first try, it's far from mandatory as there are more than a couple of filler tracks littering the album. If you like Power Thrash bands like Helstar or Vicious Rumors and/or albums like Rust in Peace and Master of Puppets you will probably find some music on Among the Dead that does it for you (I recommend "Tornado of Sickness"). If you are looking for the Iron Fire of early albums like Thunderstorm, that ship has sailed.