Band: Iron Fate
Album title: Cast In Iron
Label: Massacre Records
Distributor: Suburban
Release date: 02/07/2010
Release: CD

Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Iced Earth,… just to mention some of the main influences of this brand new German Power/ Heavy Metal band called Iron Fate. The band name already suggests that we are presented with a solid Metal band defending the faith of Heavy Metal with iron fate. From looking at the artwork, you can already deduce that this won’t be a Punk album, nor a Death Metal album, but a ‘straight-to-the-balls’ Heavy Metaaaaal album.

When listening to the album, you could easily think that you’re dealing with a band which has been jamming for years ! But none the less, it’s only their first release ever ! They have received a perfect production for this album and this, together with the unique voice of singer Denis Brosowski, is the main quality of the album. When you listen to the eight tracks (nine tracks if you include the intro) separately, there are certain songs which start to bore you after a while, such as “Lightning Bolt” and “Killer Instinct”. “Lightning Bolt” is much slower than some of the other tracks and starts to be tedious after a while, just as “Killer Instinct” and “Resurrection”. Both these songs are a bit more up-tempo, but they miss the climax to make them interesting. There also are two ballads on the album. I appreciate that a band tries to change the tempo and the rhythm, but if you know as a band that you’ve written one very good ballad, like the final song on the album “Painful Sorrow”, and one only decent ballad, like “Imagine A Better World”, then you should have to be smart enough to erase that one song. The refrain in the latter song sounds rather amateurish and unprofessional. Again, this song is an example of a way too long song. The best tracks on the album are, without any doubt, the marvelous “Iron Fate” and the brilliant “Rage In A Cage”, which has a quite childish title though. There are some very complex and fantastic guitar solos in these two songs, the singer uses his voice in such a way that he gives you goose bumps and by not making the tracks too long, they keep captivating the listener.

I can only conclude that this is a very decent debut of a very good newcomer in the heavy metal scene. Thanks to a very good production, the band has delivered a good album. This album proves that this band has nothing doing writing long, trivial songs. Stick to the short ones.

78/100

Nick Tronckoe.