Album review: IRON SAVIOR – Reforged Ironbound Volume 2

AFM Records [release date: 26.08.22]

You could argue that Piet Sielck and Kai (Gamma Ray) Hansen kick started the entire Power Metal genre in Europe when the former Helloween bandmates formed Iron Savior in 1996.

That was then. More recently, unable to ride to the rescue of any of their first 5 albums (released 1997-2004) for legal reasons, Iron Savior chose instead to rerecord a selection of tracks and release a compilation album.
2017′s Reforged – Riding On Fire was the result.
It was extremely popular, and so a second, expanded selection of rerecorded material, titled Reforged Ironbound (Vol 2, 23 tracks), has now been released.

The descriptive phrase, “Teutonic Metal” has been kicked about in the music press since the eighties, eventually becoming attached to the heavy metal sound of bands like Helloween, Running Wild and Accept as we moved into the nineties. Sielck and Hansen have run with this concept, carving out a considerable fanbase and significant sales over the last 25 years.

The earlier tracks are the ones that benefit most from the reboot. ‘Protect The Law’, ‘Children Of The Wasteland’ and ‘Forces Of Rage’ have been remodelled, streamlined and pumped up. In each case transitioning from Thrash to “Teutonic Fury”, the sound that characterises the power of the music and its cultural connections. Arguably that’s true of all 23 tracks, but most noticeable on these. Perhaps too on ‘Starborn’ and ‘Battle’.

Hansen joined the band for the re-recordings of ‘Solar Wings’ (from Dark Assault) and ‘Deadly Sleep’ (from Unification), two songs songs that hove close to the original “Spaceship” concept. It’s good to hear Hansen being part of this.

The genre would have been much less without him, and that is no slight on Sielck, who’s turned skill in the studio into an amazingly successful, twelve album, heavy metal franchise. ****

Brian McGowan

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