Iron Fire – Voyage of the Damned

It’s Tuesday, and I don’t know about you, but I could use a little pick me up to help get this week moving in the right direction. My week seems ready to derail again if things don’t improve; I just burned the piss out of my index finger trying to put out the rather large flames on my breakfast. I was toasting a bagel (a very metal bagel I’ll have you know) and when I tried to remove it from the toaster and pop it back onto the paper wrapper it came in, the wrapper touched the toaster and ignited some rather impressive flames. I was sure the fire alarm sprinkler was going to go off as I danced around trying to put out the flames. And the bagel of course ended up cream cheese down on the floor. But at least I didn’t burn the place down. My finger is smarting something fierce though, so typing is fun.

Anyway, bitching about my breakfast adventures aside, let’s talk about the new Iron Fire album. “Voyage of the Damned” is the Danish power/speed metal band’s seventh album and I’m hoping it will be just the thing to nudge my week back down the happy path. You see, whenever I’m nervous or anxious or just having a bad day, some good power metal played loudly has a tendency to boost my confidence, courage and general mental well-being. I used to always listen to Manowar on my way to final exams and job interviews because that would get me pumped and ready to take on whatever was coming.

I haven’t listened to it lately, but I recall enjoying the last Iron Fire album, “Metalmorphosized.” So I wasn’t all that surprised to find I enjoyed “Voyage of the Damned” as well. There really aren’t any surprises here, power metal is what power metal is. At the same time though, it is comforting to know you can count on what you are getting. “Voyage of the Damned” songs range from slower quiet songs like “The Final Odyssey” to faster rockers like “Enter Oblivion OJ-666.” Whatever the tempo, they are catchy and feature a lot of clean melodic vocals. Occasionally there are some vocals with a harsher edge, but mostly they are clean in the traditional power metal style. The album features a lot of cool epic symphonic embellishment for a nice bonus.

Seven albums in, if you are a power metal fan I expect you’ve already heard of these guys, but if you haven’t I’d say they are worth your time to check out. I really like them because they are not overly saccharine in their melody like some bands. Check ‘em out.