Renatus

Dynazty are a real curiosity. Starting as a sleazy rock band, they abandoned that shit to play power metal, a wise move if you ask me. 2014’s ‘Renatus’ was the record with which they introduced this new style, and it’s their strongest effort overall, just about edging out the fabulous ‘Firesign’ by literally having no fucking bad songs. This thing is loaded front to back with killer hooks, fantastic leads, jumping rhythms, and the sterling vocals of Nils Molin. Sure, Amaranthe are paying his bills these days, but Dynazty is his baby, and he takes care of it with the grace of a good parent. If you’re looking to get into these guys, ‘Renatus’ is where it’s at.

Nils reckons they just wanted to play metal after three albums of sleaze, and it’s amazing how well they pulled it off. The guitars are heavy and upfront, slinging out catchy, hooky riffs that aren’t technical in any real sense; they just grind along with the pummeling percussion as synths ping away in the background. Even here you can see why Amaranthe chose him to replace Jake; there is a sonic resemblance you can’t really get away from. That slick sense of melody the Swedes have is all over this, and Nils absolutely sells the shit out of these vocal lines. Every single chorus is worth singing along to, and that’s part of the thrill. Even when you don’t want to sing along, Dynazty frigging make you. Opener ‘Cross The Line’ is one of their finest songs, shimmering with a chorus you’ll never forget (unlike the bizarre music video). This is one of their finest hooks, and Nils nails it to the backboard. ‘Dawn Of Your Creation’ and ‘Incarnation’ mess around with more intricate ideas, bursting into wonderful refrains as if they can’t help but write them. If you imagine HEAT doing an Edguy covers album, it would sound just like this.

There are AOR elements in places, but it mainly comes from Nils. This is power metal in the sense that it bangs with a lot of bounce and melody, with high, soaring vocals and tasty choirs. It doesn’t rattle along with the speed of Helloween, but touches upon the varied songwriting that made ‘Hellfire Club’ such an agreeable album. ‘Salvation’ is my pick of the bunch, given it’s a sort of mini epic that really works, and shows that bands of this style can stretch the boundaries of these four-minute bites of Euro metal brilliance to produce something interesting. This is a polished, shiny product from Sweden that shouldn’t be missed if you dig insanely catchy hooks and a vocalist that could sing you the phonebook. I think ‘Firesign’ is more accomplished; here Dynazty are hungrier, more in your face. But as far as reinvention albums go, they are rarely this good. A modern power metal gem.