Ok. Confession time: I’d never heard of Firewind before getting this album to review. And being the impatient so and so I am, when getting something new to listen to from the editor, I plonked it straight on without reading the biog first. Erm…not another Scando-power metal band thought I. But as it turns out this lot hail from far warmer climes. 

Yes, Firewind are from Greece. Yet the bit about them sounding from oop north is valid as ‘Allegiance’ was recorded in Sweden. Uncannily it has that certain sound familiar to all fans of metal bands from that part of the world: Bloody Heavy! Yet Firewind are straight out of the power-metal stable and there are plenty of hooks and melodies for us softies to get our teeth into. Allegiance is one of the more competent metal albums I’ve heard this year.  

Gus G is the hallowed guitar wizard credited as the driving force behind the band. And very good he is too. He sounds like a cross between two of my favourite players: Magnus Karlsson and Mickey Schenker. And I can’t give higher praise than that. So I won’t. As he isn’t quite as good as either…yet.  

So yes, this is a very fine metal album, that’s only real crime is a slight lack of originality and the absence of any real killer track that would have made it stand out from the crowd.  

Things kick off with the title track and it’s clear this lot mean business. Third track in is the single ‘Falling To Pieces’ and by now new vocalist Apollo Papathanasio is proving to be a bit of a find (and a bit of swine to spell – so that’s going to be his only name check).  

On ‘Breaking the Silence’ he duets with Tara, a fair maiden from oop north, and very good they are together too. (You get the drift: it’s like one of those songs featuring that biord – that’s Swedish for bird – from Evanescence.) Further highlights include some stunning playing by Gus G on ‘Before the Storm’ and the album closer ‘Where Do We Go From Here’ which is catchier than an airborne virus. 

All in all Firewind prove to be a metal band going places. If Gibraltar’s Breed 77 can do it, then why not this amiable bunch of Greeks. Power-metaltastic…

Let us know your views on 'Allegiance'

Track List

Allegiance
Insanity
Falling To Pieces
Ready To Strike
Breaking The Silence - Firewind & Tara
Deliverance
Till The End Of Time
Dreamchaser
Before The Storm
Essence
Where Do We Go From Here
 

Line Up

Apollo Papathanasio - Vocals
Gus G. - Guitar
Petros Christo - Bass
Mark Cross - Drums
Bob Katsionis - Keyboards