Simon RushworthIron Savior – Kill Or Get Killed (AFM)
Hailing from the capital of Teutonic metal – and if that phrase alone doesn’t send shivers down your spine then look away now – it’s fair to say Iron Savior are more about tradition than innovation.
Kill Or Get Killed doesn’t rip up the power metal rule book or reinvent the melodic rock wheel. But neither is Iron Savior’s 10thlong player a monotonous procession of noise by numbers.
Founder member Piet Sielck has been at the centre of the Hanseatic metal scene for long enough to know what makes a rip-roaring set of fist-pumping riffage and there’s more than a hint of classic Helloween (Kai Hansen played with the band for five years) underpinning this remarkably fresh record.
Stand Up And Fight, Heroes Ascending and the stirring set closer, Legends Of Glory, are ripe for soundtracking the next instalment in Marvel’s Avengers series with soaring melodies and fantasy-themed lyrics a staple of Iron Savior’s classic sound.
Sielck has always been a consummate storyteller and taking his inspiration from sci-fi novel The Star Of Pandora, he’s crafted another polished set echoing early Queensrÿche and vintage Priest. Ballad Until We Meet Again could give Scorpions a run for their money such is the canny fusion of power and passion.
Iron Savior have long since stamped their mark on the vibrant German metal scene and Kill Or Get Killed stays true to the legacy of a nation which remains deeply proud of its hard rock roots.
But until Sielck lands a spot opening up for Iron Maiden sometime soon then his band of ardent brothers is surely destined to be nothing more than a footnote in the genre’s wider history.
