Album review: THE GRANDMASTER – Black Sun

Frontiers Music [Release date: 12.01.24]

For The Grandmaster’s second album, mainman, guitarist and Edguy co-founder, Jens Ludwig has recruited ex Fate vocalist, Peer Johansson.

Surprisingly, given the accessibility of the material they created in previous employment, much of Black Sun needs patience and understanding before it really starts to register.

Unless of course your brain is naturally attuned to Power Metal with the occasional teutonic twist.

In which case, the title track, ‘Black Sun’ will have the immediate impact for which it is clearly intended.

It introduces us to the first of the album’s filigreed blasts of neatly orchestrated metal. Johansson’s cement mixer vocals come alive with a rumble and a gritty aftertaste, aided and abetted by Ludwig’s fret bending axework, a rolling current of melodically inclined noise.

‘Heaven’s Calling’ sees the band tumbling headlong into the welcoming arms of NWOBHM. A fast paced, foot on the monitor blast that cranks up from a growl to a wail in the blink of an eye.
In among the mayhem, Ludwig’s finger blurring axework never loses sight of the melody, tracking it across the song with skill and alacrity.

Between times, we have a nicely turned piano ballad, ‘Fly, Icarus Fly’; the contemporary lyrical message of ‘Learn To Forgive’ (with a cleverly constructed exotic backdrop) and the biggie, ‘Watching The End’, where Johansson’s mouth-of-nails vocals demolish the scenery and anything else within vocal range.

And it’s evident by now that Johansson’s and Ludwig’s talent and professionalism provide the music with a solid power metal core, pumping up the drama on standouts like ‘While The Sun’ and ‘Soul Sacrifice’.

Both tracks are marginally more accessible than the openers, meaning we don’t have to work quite as hard to tune in.

What they succeed in doing is ensure the album maintains momentum, surging and melodic, encouraging all around to uphold the urgent, declamatory nature of the genre.

Fine album. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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