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Stormwarrior - Heading Northe review



Reviewer:
7.2

73 users:
8.29
Band: Stormwarrior
Album: Heading Northe
Release date: February 2008


01. And The Horde Calleth For Oden
02. Heading Northe
03. Metal Legacy
04. The Holy Cross
05. Iron Gods
06. Ragnarök
07. The Revenge Of Asa Lande
08. Remember The Oathe
09. Lion Of The Northe
10. Into The Battle
11. And The Valkyries Ride
+ Heading Northe [video] [bonus]

"Heading North" is already the third album of Stormwarrior, a German combo that plays European Power Metal (German Power should even be a better name), so of course if you're into bands like Running Wild I think that you should try this release. The fact that the band is influenced by Viking mythologies and "music" is also a good thing but don't expect anything outstanding either... That's Power Metal a la European sauce and it's not so amazing unfortunately.

For sure in it's genre, Heading North is not a bad album of Power Metal. We have good catchy choruses and really fast tempo, the general level of the musicians is not bad too! But let's be honest you must be into this kind of music to enjoy it. I mean that "Heading North" is full of clichés and even if it's not a bad release it can become quickly boring if you cannot stand German Power. By luck, the Viking Metal influences that we can find in this CD, plus some melodies a la Blind Guardian are here to save the album. At least we have some original parts in this release but it's only a CD for the fans of this kind of Metal. In brief, if you like to listen to European Power, this is a must but you hate it in general Heading North will not change your opinion...

The Viking ambiances of the CD are not so bad, but apart from the intro don't expect any real kind of Viking Metal melodies on this release. We have some Viking melodies yes, but Stormwarrior is not the Power Metal version of Amon Amarth. This album, which is really well produced by the way, is just an album of classic really fast Power Metal which talks about Viking myths but doesn't really use the influences of this so called musical genre. It's just a matter of taste really, in general it's hard for me to be convinced by such bands but I must admit that it's not bad even if I think that the "Viking" influences are not really well used.

Stormwarrior is a good Power Metal band, I just think that they should try to be a bit more original. They have good ideas but that's not enough to be really convincing. Though if you use to listen to really fast Power Metal and like Nordic legends, I really recommend you to buy this album, you shouldn't be disappointed.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 6
Originality: 5
Production: 8

Written by Jeff | 17.03.2008




Comments

Comments: 10   Visited by: 137 users
17.03.2008 - 11:08
White Winter Sun
Laboratory's Rat
I'm not a die hard power metal fan but I didn't find this album extremely boring, just a little bit repetitive in some parts. An album with no big originality as said up in the review, but still a good album with a good level in the interpretation.

Also I found the singing a little bit different on this album compared to the band's previous releases. But I'm not an expert on this kind of music and can say a big mistake .

I woul rate the whole album with a 7.
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17.03.2008 - 14:26
HardSide

The album is a great listen when your in the mood for it. Its catchy, fast rifts, yes it is repetetive but you can sing to the lyrics, and have an upbeat mood after its done. Unfortunately you won't find the greatest music nor lyrics on this album, nor will you be buying more of StormWarrior albums if they keep to the same style as they did with this album.

Good album? Yes
Album for all metal heads? No
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18.03.2008 - 21:37
Rating: 10
hard_tom

Very good album (in the limits of the speed metal genre). When I first hearded the vocals, I thought it´s Kai Hansen - like in the times of "Walls of Jericho".
Running Wild meets Gammaray.
My rating : 9,5.
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16.08.2008 - 20:01
Lowelas OF FIRE
Account deleted
Stormwarrior are GERMAN, not Danish!

i can't wait to pick up this album, I know I'll love it!
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16.08.2008 - 20:06
Rating: 8
Janne
Hugin
Who cares about originality?! I don't!
I haven't bored by viking themes nor fast power metal!
----
age]


-FOLK METAL HUNGARY-
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29.10.2008 - 02:55
Rating: 9
rebelhead

I disagree...
Heading Northe is the best album of the band in my opinion
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15.04.2009 - 07:06
Lord_Regnier

The only Powermetal album that caught my attention in 2008, for the reason that it's really a Power/Speed metal album (reminiscent of Helloween's "Walls Of Jericho", like someone mentioned) and not another boring hard rock-ish album like we get so often since a few years.
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"Why would we fear death, when life is so much more frightening?"
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15.04.2009 - 22:10
Rating: 8
Janne
Hugin
Written by Lord_Regnier on 15.04.2009 at 07:06

The only Powermetal album that caught my attention in 2008, for the reason that it's really a Power/Speed metal album (reminiscent of Helloween's "Walls Of Jericho", like someone mentioned) and not another boring hard rock-ish album like we get so often since a few years.

Agreed. We got so much hard-rock shit from great bands. It was nice to hear some true power metal.
----
age]


-FOLK METAL HUNGARY-
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11.11.2009 - 21:57
fade
Son of Sweden
Written by Janne on 15.04.2009 at 22:10

Written by Lord_Regnier on 15.04.2009 at 07:06

The only Powermetal album that caught my attention in 2008, for the reason that it's really a Power/Speed metal album (reminiscent of Helloween's "Walls Of Jericho", like someone mentioned) and not another boring hard rock-ish album like we get so often since a few years.

Agreed. We got so much hard-rock shit from great bands. It was nice to hear some true power metal.


Yeah I would have to agree with both of you. I actually had never heard of them until The Magic Circle Fest... Was I missing out!
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The troubles of avoiding horseshit.
My Music database: http://www.racksandtags.com/northernsky/
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26.03.2017 - 09:38
Winter Heathen

This album is straightforward Power metal with speed metal thrown in for good measure. It's all about guitar and high singing, as is typical with power metal, which is, in my opinion, what makes the genre rise above the others.
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Power metal incarnate.
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