Dreams in Darkness

Power metal is often saddled with the label of being all flowery and rainbow-drenched due to the prominence of a number of lighter bands at the turn of the millennium that took the early strides made by Helloween in the late 80s and distilling the most joyous elements therein into something happier sounding than many softer variants of mainline rock music. To be fair, the almighty riff is what ultimately separates the metal men from the rocking boys, and in that respect even the most cheerful teller of tales from Dragonforce to Freedom Call fall in the grown up category. Nevertheless, their adoptive sub-genre has also been the home of some darker and more forbidding music that takes its cues from the rugged heavy and speed metal forefathers who dominated the German scene just prior to thrash metal gaining its mid-80s hegemony. One such band arose out of the same early 2000s power metal wave that birthed the two aforementioned lighter bands' careers, from the streets of Santiago, Chile no less, in the barbarian sword-wielding trustees known as Battlerage.

Though never a professor of the Helloween approach of metallic majesty, this fold has generally had their boots planted more so in the power metal realm, taking most of their cues from the handiwork of old school Conan The Barbarian emulators Manowar, though with the added caveat of helmsman and vocalist Fox-Tin Torres bearing an uncanny resemblance to the throaty, low-end growling handiwork of Chris Boltendahl since the Tunes Of War period, lately they've taken to an even darker template than usual. Their more heavy metal-driven 4th LP in 2018's Dreams In Darkness almost veers into territory in line with the dreary contemplations of Tad Morose, though the most obvious point of comparison is the murky yet still melodic mode of power-driven heaviness that has typified the Grave Digger breakaway project Rebellion, though minus the conceptual trappings. Add into the mix a more blues-driven metallic assault from the lead guitar work and an almost Accept-like approach to songwriting, and the picture is almost completely in view.

Be all of this as it may, there is an underlying sense of safeness and deference to more typical song structures that permeates this entire listen and keeps it from breaking past the threshold of being good and entering that more abstract realm of utter greatness. To be clear, it's by no means the fault of any one player as each member of the fold brings plenty of passion into the equation, but whether it be the static rocker "Placer Infernal", the mid-paced and occasionally dragging nod to Dio-like fanfare "Immortal Sin" or the borderline doom epic "I See The Winter In Your Heart", repetition seems to stand in the place of development and that magical merger of drawn out melodic splendor and a more stripped down rhythmic backdrop that makes the typical Iron Maiden epic work so well doesn't quite come to fruition here. For the most part, this band really shines when things are kept short and on the swifter side of things, with the cruiser "Intellectual Dreams" and its gallop-happy cousin and album title song "Dreams In Darkness" being the absolute zenith points.

All in all, this is a solid offering that will definitely sit well with those who like their heavy metal with a good deal of gusto, but it's the sort of album that works best in small to moderate doses, and doesn't really hold up upon successive listens. Those who are interested in this particular mold of power-centered power metal with a more traditional edge to it are encouraged to check out this band's 2004 debut Steel Supremacy and the equally triumphant 2011 third entry True Metal Victory. Much like Manowar when at their most unapologetically celebratory, this is a band that shines brightest when singing the praises of their adoptive genre, and those who enjoy the simple yet infectious trappings combined with a gritty edge as exemplified in Ironsword, Sacred Steel and Paragon are this band's target audience.