GRAND MAGUS - Iron Will
August 15, 2008, 16 years ago
(Rise Above)
The night vocalist JB joined Candlemass onstage, for their 20th Anniversary show, the fellow Swede obviously picked up some songwriting pointers from Mr. Edling, as Iron Will is a thrill ride that detours to the land of classic heavy metal (touring the outskirts of power metal), a landscape dotted with plenty of C-mass road signs. While only ‘Self Deceiver’ dwells in the full-on doomy depths of their better-known countrymen, Grand Magus opt for a more up-tempo style, with heavy underpinning. Check out ‘Fear Is The Key’ and the title cut. It’s not long into ‘Like The Oar Strikes The Water’, the lead track from the trio’s sophomore effort, that a Maiden-ish riff surfaces. However, the real old school anthem awaits, in the form of ‘The Shadow Knows’, and build on a guitar shuffle that would do Wolf or Bullet proud (come to think of it, they’re both Swedish as well! Must be all that aged beer causing the backward glances). Fun cross-genre mix. Drink it in!
