Heart of the Phoenix

The title of this review is named after Alestorm's 2014 album. However, the name is somewhat ironic. That album was Alestorm's best work, and far from the last good album they've made (the worst Alestorm album in my opinion was Back Through Time, which was right before Sunset). No Grave But The Sea and Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum were decent albums as well, so this album was not the end, but rather the beginning of a golden age for Alestorm.

On the contrary, Heart Of The Phoenix was in fact, a sunset on the golden age of Victorius. It was the last good work they produced before they signed to Napalm Records and drowned themselves in cheese. Napalm Records has some good artists, like Alestorm, Gloryhammer, and now Dragonforce. But Alestorm is still good despite their cheesiness, as is Gloryhammer. Victorius on the other hand...not so much.

Thus ends my rant, and begins my review. Heart Of The Phoenix is the followup to Dreamchaser, which is my personal favorite Victorius album. Upon relistening to the album, I definitely see the influences that would drive their future albums, including a hyperfixation on C Minor and D Minor, as well as a song called Shadowwarriors, which may or may not have foreshadowed their album about ninjas. David Baßin's voice is stellar on this album, and the keyboards are given much more range. In particular, Sons Of Orion has a heavy synth intro, which actually sounds kinda similar to the intro for Super Sonic Samurai. I've said before that Victorius suffers from having songs sound very similar, and this is still true on this album. However, they still have some good tracks, my personal favorites being Hero and A Million Lightyears, which has a female vocalist that adds a beautiful touch to it.

The production on this album is still pretty good, and the lyrics are still decent...for power metal, at least. Hero in particular has a very catchy chorus. The solos are still the same, but the songwriting has suffered a little from the last album. Their songs still use the same riffs as the last album, with the only major difference being the speed of the songs. But it's still better than what they're currently making with Napalm Records.

Unfortunately, Victorius has gotten worse since they signed to Napalm Records. They've completely changed their image and style while not bothering to change their musical style, and it's kind of obvious at this point that they're just doing all this cheesy BS with dinosaurs and ninjas and whatnot to cover up the fact that they're not the best songwriters. The first three albums by Victorius were good, and they had some real potential as a band. But sadly, it's gonna take more than a million lightyears for their music to get better.

If someone asked me to sum up the sound of modern European power metal with one album - I'd thrust this CD into their face with a stern expression. A giant fiery bird adorns the cover, above which the band's moniker VICTORIUS gleams proudly. The album is entitled Heart of the Phoenix, and the majority of songs contain the word 'of' in the title. And to top it all off - they're German. From an exterior perspective, this is about as generic as power metal gets. Things follow suit both musically and lyrically - but this is no insult! Modern European power metal is never going to ooze originality, so embrace the generic-ness! Up-tempo, galloping hymns with epic choruses about warriors, swords and rainbows are the order of the day - and boy, don't we love it!

Despite being Victorius' fourth full-length album, Heart of the Phoenix only expands insofar as the production quality, courtesy of Lars Rettkowitz from Freedom Call. It's a crystal clear, crisp, polished sound with enough grittiness to add a decent crunch to the palm-muted guitars. As should be the case, the vocals are right at the front of the mix, and David's smooth delivery is warm and welcoming. He is backed by a decent choir at the right points, especially the anthemic "Die By My Sword", but I can't help feeling they could have been boosted in volume. Same goes for the drums (though I still find the short snap of that snare drum really addictive!)

The keyboard presence is the most effective element here. It never completely engulfs the metal in flowery pomp, but it adds the necessary accents here and there to elevate the album from 'cheesy' to 'epic'. The constant synth presence in "Sons Of Orion" is such an interesting layer, and the brass stabs in "Hero" are absolutely irresistible. Of course, I can't let the dual guitar attack of Dirk and Flo go unnoticed. Praise to their ultra-fast double strumming, headbang-worthy riffs ("Beyond The Iron Sky"), and absolutely blazing solos that are littered throughout the record.

It's difficult to pick out particular highlights because each song delivers the goods satisfactorily, and without seeking to disparage the German quintet, are almost indistinguishable from each other quality-wise. The hard-hitting "Empire Of The Dragonking" takes a more grandiose stance with its marching chorus and gang-shouts; opener "Shadow Warriors" brings the cheese with its sword-wielding sound effects; "Hero" contains the most hymnal chorus in the band's catalogue; and "Virus" really puts the pedal to the metal.

In truth, every track is worth your time if you're a power metal fan. The slightly lackadaisical "A Million Lightyears" drops the vibrancy a bit, especially as the closer. It would have been better placed in the middle of the album, so the energy could lift again. However, the dud finale notwithstanding, Heart of the Phoenix is a solid power metal album for the 21st century. Those craving originality shouldn't be looking at a German Euro-power album with a phoenix on the cover anyway! Victorius: carry on being victorious.

"Shining bright - heart of the phoenix.
Blazing fire, deep inside...
Eternally, victorious, forever free!"

Following their current trend, German power metallers Victorius have been continuing to hone their skills in the live format as the bands’ recent hiatus has allowed them to produce a tighter, more vibrant sound through all the enhanced activity they went through. With the live activity resulting in a three-year gap between releases, the groups’ fourth full-length was originally released January 13, 2017 on Massacre Records.

Almost immediately, it’s apparent that the bands’ hard work has paid off in dividends as there’s an immense blast of forceful and power-packed power metal. Taking the same general approach as before which takes the form of sterling rhythms, triumphant vocals and sparkling melodies interwoven into a tight, charging speed-metal core, forming the essence of plenty of spectacular power metal bands throughout its history. As well, these tracks that gallop along at rather nice mid-tempo speeds here rather than going overboard with the bombastic overkill balance out the more chugging-centered patterns that hold off the driving rhythms in favor of harmony-laden keyboard and more cheese-driven speedsters that tend to be more emblematic of the genre’s more current output of layering plenty of the keyboards and vocals over the driving drumming and explosive guitar melodies that adds worlds of harmonious rhythms to the tracks throughout here by adding the triumphant nature to a strong baseline of work. The strong melodic interjections work quite nicely here at forming a blistering sense of power running through a toughened exterior, though it does highlight the fact that the band does dip into those shallower depths somewhat frequently and brings about a rather formulaic approach which doesn’t need to be there with the album working nicely with the stronger rhythms generating quite a lot to like here and the lighter approach does undo a lot of that good will. It’s not completely extinguished but does bring it down somewhat.

While it’s still a somewhat new and novel experience for the group, there’s plenty to like here with the bands’ rather impressive attack getting utilized to it’s fullest extent which has the great effect of making this one a wholly worthwhile release for fans of triumphant, highly melodic power metal.

Steadily releasing albums of increasing quality, Victorius is becoming a name to look out for in the rather sizable German power metal scene. The base here is simple; uplifting power metal hymns as melodic as they are heroic, with all the clichés and cheesiness that comes with it. A fresh feel. Song titles like ’End Of The Rainbow’ and ’Empire Of The Dragonking’ as well as the title track tells that their latest full length effort, Heart Of The Phoenix will spare no cheese. The album then kicks off with three strong tracks that go full on power metal, making for a trilogy that really shows what the album is about. Hints of Freedom Call’s worthwhile earlier albums mingle with the slight epics of Hammerfall, with sprinkles of Gloryhammer strewn all over. And most importantly, Victorius brings something of their own. There’s a slight decrease come ’Sons Of Orion’ (the albums longest track at just over five minutes), which tends to lean too much on the keyboards.

While not necessarily dealing exclusively with dragons, princesses and glorious battles, the thematic elements of the lyrics are of standardised power metal tropes. You’ll find nothing new there, but Victorius still make it sound fresh. Vocalist David Bassin sometimes has a hard time carrying the entirety and the epic feel aimed for, but with some help from layered vocals during choruses he manages the entire album without falling. His voice is sometimes reminiscent of a young Joacim Cans (Hammerfall), which can be of both good and bad, but Bassin makes the best of what he has and what he can do. One of the best things about Heart Of The Phoenix is the lack of one of those ultra cheesy ballads that can completely drag an album down. Perhaps closer ’A Million Lightyears’ comes closest, being a duet featuring Viktorie Surmøvá (Surmata). It hints of a more symphonic edge that doesn’t shine through during the rest of the album, and makes for a delightful closer to the album. The keyboards actually see a more restrained role in comparison to Dirk Scharsich’s lead guitar and Bassin’s melodic vocals.

Riffs such as in ’Beyond The Iron Sky’ and ’Empire Of The Dragonking’ lifts with a kick, while the melodic pieces of opening ’Shadow Warriors’ (for example) see a slightly different approach. While I’d have liked Scharsich to take a little more command and pull off a few more memorable solos, that’s not really what the music is about. The focus isn’t on one single member, with the exception of a few small passages here and there. The strength is instead the whole. This is what Victorius has polished throughout their carreer, making it better with each album. Previous album Dreamchaser (2014) saw a Victorius that seemed to have found their way and what their music was really about. While still faltering, it led to a strong album in Heart Of The Phoenix. It’s not a perfect album, or even a particularly varied one, but from the get go it’s fun power metal that should please any fan of the cheesier side of the genre. A stable album that follows already set paths but still manages to feel like its own. Fresh, new, revitalized.

Standout tracks: Shadow Warriors, Heart Of The Phoenix, A Million Lightyears