I think we all know that the formula of skull + swords on album cover = heavy metal being done right. There’s a black and white simplicity right from the off, we’ll have no truck with anything frustratingly experimental here (thank Almighty Lemmy and praise be to Dio).Track one is “Transparent”. It has a fairy tale lyrical beginning with “Fe fi fo fum”. There is guitar so proficient it could juggle kittens*, bass that feels as if it’s being hewn from granite, a drum kit that takes a tidy drubbing and vocals clear and so powerful they’ve gone beyond grabbing the invisible orange and are grabbing an invisible watermelon. The second track “Falling From Grace” is equally strong and by track three “Vicious Circle” it’s clear that this album is all killer no filler. Track three reminds me of one of my favourite jokes; make a circle with your thumb and forefinger**, wiggle your hand and say “Grrrrrrrrrrr! What’s this?” The answer obviously is a vicious circle. There’s some vicious circular guitar widdling in this track and a chugginess which is going to get fists raised aloft when played live. When we get to track four, “A Chapter’s Lesion” it’s gone a bit slower, but it’s okay, all really great metal bands know they can do the odd slower song. In the main it’s not slow enough to get your lighter out. Track five, “Genocide”, takes us back to a fast tempo. The steady repetitiveness of this song reminds me that if we don’t learn from history we are doomed to repeat it. It has a swift brutal ending. Next up is “Cry For Help”. This should be in a training montage in a macho film with muscular men sweating in vests and trying to come to terms with something or another before giving up and having a big fight. Track seven is an angry little number called “Blind” which gives us the only swearing on the album. Finally we have “Jacob’s Ladder”. Lyrically this song makes me think of Monty Python’s Life Of Brian. There are also three bonus tracks on the album, so it’s almost forty-seven minutes of music, which is long enough to cook a chili con carne.This album feels cohesive, it feels like the Iron Knights have come of age, they’ve wrestled their mighty sword from the middle of the lake of inconveniences and are now ready to slay dragons. The thunk of classic metal can be heard throughout. I can’t wait to hear this stuff live (20th September 2014 at the Cellar, Oxford. Come and have a Malibu and Diet Coke*** with me if you’re in the area).*no kittens were harmed during the making of this CD. Any kittens who hear it get fluffier.**depending on where you are in the world this gesture can have multiple meanings, so be cautious telling this joke in South America. See [...]***I believe manlier drinks will be available, but the ‘bu is like a holiday in a glass so I’m sticking with it.