Legacy of Morfuidra

Coventhrall are a new Finnish act hopelessly devoted to old school European power metal on their space-themed debut, which has been demoed out over the last decade and a half in one way or another, and it shows. This is highly developed for a debut, but these guys know what they’re doing, having done time in notable acts like Amberian Dawn, Silentium, Waltari, and numerous others. What I like about this is just how fiercely it attacks a certain era of the style; production-wise as well as compositionally, this is bang on the kind of power metal that was released between 2001 and 2007 on labels such as Limb, Arise, and Metal Heaven, and while it leaves a little to be desired in places, it’s a refreshing treat for Euro power freaks.

This is Finnish PM, so that means frosty keyboards, neoclassical leads, happy melodies, and swathes of double-kicking, but it’s got more balls than some of their countrymen had back in the day, with a masculine riffing style and the throaty vocals of bellower Sami Ilvonen, who puts in a great performance behind the pop shield. It really sounds as if Jukka Hoffren bought a late 90s model Korg to record this, as the synth patches are very old school, and give ‘Legacy Of Morfuidra’ a tundra-stricken atmosphere that is way more arctic than celestial, but I love it anyway. The riff work is more trad metal than anything, and the heavier, guitar-centric approach puts this in the same trajectory as bands like Iron Ware, Twilight Guardians, Excalion, and Viron if anyone remembers that fun little German band. Tunes like ‘Morfuidra’, the double-kicking ‘Dreadnought’, and ‘Empress In The Making’ are killer power metal cuts full of shiny melodies, slick solos, and hammering percussion, while some of the more epic numbers push the boat out with lavish arrangements and narrative drive. This is obviously a silly concept album of some kind, and there are guest vocals here, notably from Status Minor frontman Markku Kuikka and Soulgrind’s Tanja Kemppainen, but the whole is a pretty cohesive and pleasing work.

Fans of the aforementioned half-forgotten bands and early century power metal will really dig this. It’s not as catchy as it could be, and it doesn’t do anything new at all, but it’s the kind of album that’s been sorely lacking in the genre for years, and it’ll remind you of why you fell in love with it in the first place. Cool stuff.