Danish band Iron Fire dive right in on this debut with battles and steel and kings and victories and... you know the drill. Also, there's lots of speed and catchy refrains, with choral vocals making up for the rather iffy voice of main man/songwriter Martin Steene. He's not bad. He's just... not very good, and that shows up straight away on the opening "The Final Crusade", which is an otherwise good song. And there are plenty of good songs here, also of note being "Metal Victory", the... er, thundering "Thunderstorm", "Behind The Mirror" and "Until The End". The third track from the end, "Angel Of Light", might send the listener for a left turn, as it starts with a harmonica and becomes a ballad which rather reminded me of Aerosmith in one of their slower moments, only better. It's really quite an affecting piece.
Thunderstorm is not a pure gem - there are too many rough edges. But there's still much to like, and is pretty essential for power metal fans.
***1/2
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