Revenge Is My Name

“Iron Mask” is the second project of Belgian guitar shredder Dushan Petrossi, better known for his work in “Magic Kingdom”. For all the differences in imagery on the album covers, there is very little difference in the overall sound between the two projects. “Magic Kingdom” seems to focus more on writing catchy songs and limiting the amount of technical displays in the guitar and keyboards, not to mention that the closing song of their 2nd release was a bit unorthodox for a power metal band of the Malmsteen persuasion. “Iron Mask” focuses a bit more on the lengthy soloing and shred fill-in steeped riffs that are more indicative of Rising Force’s mid-80s material, although both projects draw heavily from that era in Malmsteen’s 2 decades plus career.

Comparisons between Dushan and Yngwie are unavoidable, not only because of stylistic similarities but also because Dushan looks very similar to his older inspiration. I think the notion that Petrossi is the true heir to the Malmsteen sound are a bit far-reaching, especially considering that other players such as Michael Romeo, Luca Turilli, Olaf Lenk, Carljohan Grimmark, Thorbjörn Englund and several others invoke the same neo-classical tendencies with their own individual variations. One should also consider that Malmsteen’s songwriting and lead playing style has evolved since the close of the 80s and that the groove oriented material that he occasionally dabbles in is nowhere to be found on either of Iron Mask’s releases or anything put out by Magic Kingdom.

“Revenge is my name” is musically extremely similar to the first Magic Kingdom release “The Arrival”, although production wise it is a major improvement. Likewise, the vocal delivery on here is a pretty solid step up, although Phil Letawe’s vocals are extremely derivative of Mark Boals. The songwriting has also seen some progression, as the choruses are not as redundant lyrically and the melodies are not as flat as was the case on “The Arrival”. The drum sound is still a heavily 80s sounding reverb heavy variety, but the snare is much more crisp and doesn’t sustain so long that you almost loose the sense of the beat, which was definitely a problem on the Magic Kingdom debut.

There is a good deal of acoustic guitar work on here when compared to the previous album put out by Dushan and the 2 other associated with him. “Alien Pharao” has a rather interesting sounding acoustic progression that sort of comes and goes, while “March to Victory” has an acoustic guitar accompanying a piano that sounds almost like late 80s Tony Martin era Black Sabbath. The closing instrumental “Warchild Requiem” is one of the better acoustic instrumentals I’ve heard in a while, heavy similar to “Memories” off the 4th Rising force album “Odyssey”.

There are also a good deal of instrumental work that almost matches the traditional power metal songs. “Morgana’s Castle” is the only real full instrumental and a lot like was the case with “Black Magic Castle” on the latest Magic Kingdom offering, draws heavy similarities to Yngwie’s “Trilogy Suite”, but also with that same Axel Rudi Pell tendency of spooky castle imagery. “Secret Tunnel of the King” doesn’t shred quite as relentlessly but still puts on a solid technical display and is about half the length.

As far as the full length songs go, this is where things get a little bit mixed. The title track and “The Witch Burner” are solid speed metal, but other than these two things tend to get dragged out a bit too much. “You are my blood” is the most indicative example of this, with a heavily redundant power ballad structure and a chorus that meanders just too much. “Hold the Light” is a revamped and better produced version of “Lost in the Dust” from the first Magic Kingdom release, a definitely improvement, but not a spectacular mid-tempo rocker like Stratovarius’ “Playing with Fire” or “Hunting High and Low”. “The Wolf and the Beast” would be the best song on here if they had scaled back the overlong wolf howling and growling in the night intro which almost goes on for 2 minutes straight. Once you get past it, pure speed metal and shred majesty with some solid change ups.

This is standard faire for power metal and Yngwie fans. If you have every Yngwie album and are still hungry for more than this would be a good place to go, although I’d recommend getting the next album “Hordes of the Brave” first as it is much better and more song oriented. This is where Dushan Petrossi began to get his act together and is the stepping stone between the green and mediocre “The Arrival” and the polished and powerful “Metallic Tragedy”.