Artist: Ironsword
Title: “Overlords Of Chaos”
Label: Shadow Kingdom Records
Release Date: 9/16/2008
Genre: Power Metal
Rating: 2/5

This one mystified me a little bit because I am generally one of the biggest proponents of the Heroic Power Metal genre yet from the moment I placed “Overlords Of Chaos” by Ironsword in my CD changer I found myself scratching my head in wonder about what I was actually spinning. The band hails from Portugal, which I felt was good because outside of Gothic Metal greats Moonspell, we don’t always hear from the region when it comes to offering up Metal bands. The problem I first had with the band was based on vocalist Tann because he is in possession of a gruff and almost growling vocal presence as opposed to the expected high register and often sonic screams that the genre continually delivers. As you know, Power Metal is a driving format and it is often true that the singer of the band helps to propel the musicality of the group forward. With the different vocal sound from Tann, this was just not catching me and while the band was tight, it almost sounded like the singer was disinterested in the material. Of course I am sure that it was not truly the case but his voice is not one that grabs you or even sounds like he is excited about what they are doing. To me I felt he was going through motions. Had this been a Hard Rock outfit with more of a crushing groove then his voice would have worked out so much better. Alas, it was not. The group formed in 1995 and “Overloads Of Chaos” is their third release. The bass on the album is handled by Rick Thor while Maalm pounds it out on the drums.
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