Undivided

Signum Regis are the best Christian power metal band next to Theocracy, but despite some killer efforts over the years, they haven’t carved their name into the hearts of power metal fans the way Matt Smith’s crew have. Part of that is due to their inability to keep a stable lineup or frontman, and when they finally had a steady singer in Mayo Petranin, he really wasn’t the right voice for the band’s bright, sunny sound. I always felt they needed a more typical power metal vocalist, and they finally got one in Jota Fortinho in 2019, and he’s worked wonders with the band since. The other reason is they keep hopping from one aspect of their sound to another, with their first two records containing tricky neoclassical prog-power, whereas ‘Exodus’ was a mean metal machine, ‘Chapter IV’ went for more of a Sonata Arctica sound, and ‘Seal Of A New World’ tried to squeeze all of that into one desultory album. With ‘Undivided’, they’ve stripped things down for a more digestible, straight ahead Euro power approach, and thus made one of the strongest albums of their career.

‘Seal Of A New World’, Jota’s debut with the band, was kind of all over the place, bur it flashed some real promise, and so it’s fulfilling to hear Signum Regis really fire on all cylinders on opus number seven. This one is all about Helloween and Edguy, full of bright, brassy melodies, tasty if not flashy guitar work, and absolutely first-rate vocals from Jota. He can morph his voice to fit whatever the song needs, from a Jonny Lindqvist howl to a Michael Kiske wail, and flips between both on pounding, anthemic cuts like ‘Salt Of The Earth’ and phenomenal album opener ‘Daniel’s Prophecy’. This one really sounds like Nocturnal Rites in the verses before launching into one of the best choruses Tobias Sammet never wrote for Edguy’s ‘Mandrake’. Most of the choruses here are of the happy, sing-song style Helloween popularized back in the day, but with the crunchy guitar work, not to mention a guitar tone Roland Grapow would be envious of, a lot of this comes off more like their classic 90s work with Andi Deris at the helm. There are some truly excellent power metal songs here, from the zigzagging ‘Pilgrim Road’ to the fist-pumping ‘Servants Of The Fallen One’ all the way through to epic closer ‘Shield My Soul’. This one goes for a totally different vibe, one that marries the Celtic sound of modern Iron Maiden with the scope of a Lost Horizon tune, just pure class all the way.

The production has a modern punch that nevertheless hides some 90s Euro power grit, again think Helloween and Nocturnal Rites, and it really enhances the songs in a way a glistening Finnvox job wouldn’t. If there’s a weakness to ‘Undivided’ it’s that the choruses are so damn catchy they can occasionally be irritating if you’re in the wrong mood. ‘Prepare For War’ has vocals so bouncy and flitty it almost makes you want to hit the skip button, but the strong stuff on here totally outweighs the cringe spots, which are few and far between. Also, Signum Regis don’t lean on the Christian themes too much; a bit like Theocracy, they talk about Biblical stories more than anything, with a few crisis of faith tunes thrown in there as well, so don’t be put off by that, or you’ll be missing some high quality melodic power metal just like Momma used to make. Great stuff.