The cover might suggest something else, but the truth is that hailing from the Polish Black Metal act Vallachia, Grimlord changed to a Heavy/Trash sound with some Progressive touch. Actually, this tastes more like Speed/Power Metal on the classic meaning of the term, refreshed with unexpected passages and creative twists.

Soon we find some Helloween/Gamma Ray-style melodic riffs and vocals, with lots of slow-downs, acoustics and grooves, which make our listening worthwhile. "Dolce Vita Sath-anas" sounds alive and organic, like the young metallers Helloween or Grave Digger, in the 80's, not like some recent plastic and predictable Power Metal bands. Epic and fantastic, yes, but Heavy Metal before it all.

Nevertheless, the instrumentals, starting with "Shade of Wrath Angels", explore a little bit more of this Progressive side I was talking about, but it is Heavy Metal of the best, rather than just catchy ambient synths. A wonderful sample of the good musical level this band is able to reach leaded by a total appetite for Metal. Really, these instrumental tracks are everything but never boring. "The Solution of eternity" is a kind of guitar hero work, while "Ancient Land of Ys" is a peaceful acoustic tune, and "Lamentation Sword" a dance between guitar and piano, similar to Savatage's compositions.

It's clear anyways that this album is still a search of these guys, they are experimenting in search for an unique sound, but always giving priority to guitars and letting synths and effects in the background, and that is for sure something to be thankful about. They're not lying when they say they know how to play Heavy Metal. Good technical work.