Vhäldemar
Against All Kings

Album number five for Spanish band Vhäldemar who released their debut back in 2002. Now they go up against all kings and they do with power and with speed in a way that will most likely appeal to anyone who enjoys their power metal. Looking at the cover one can think of bands like Wizard, a band that I think is a pretty good band to compare these guys with – they both offer powerful stuff. And these Spaniards do seem to know how to make a powerful album as well as a powerful riff.

There are several powerful riffs on this album, and several powerful songs. Good energy, good variation, good production on an album with eleven tracks that plays for about 40 minutes, certainly a playing time short enough to avoid bringing on the sensation of a dull album. It should press the right buttons for the power metal fans and while the singer might not be very great, he still sounds very right for this album. I think this band is good and silly enough to be appealing to a rather wide audience.

I don’t really think that they are particularly spectacular in any area of the musical tree. They do not write unique songs, their vocals are quite poor; the musicianship isn’t particularly impressive, all individual parts on this album are in fact rather unspectacular. Something that unsurprisingly adds up to a rather great album, it pushes all the right buttons to be really appealing. All the songs are really strong and the standout moments are in tracks like opening Metalizer and I Will Stand Forever, where the band really shines. An overall impressive production I have to say, it is just silly enough to work.

Against All Kings is an album that should really appeal to more or less anyone who enjoys rock or metal music, it has some great songs and it is an overall great product. I like the energy and power the band shows from the start all the way to the end and therefore the best way to end this written review of the album is to recommend that you have a closer look at it – I think that you will like it.

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