The debut of this Swedish company catches the eye first of all by the breathtaking cover designed by Ken Kelly (Manowar, Rainbow …).
We still know the man behind the microphone – Mike Stark – from the also Swedish Starblind where he stepped up after 2 albums (“Darkest horrors” and “Dying son”)!
His screaming strokes are a love it or hate it case, but overall Mike is quite varied. The music is a nice piece of heavy metal with catchy choruses with an epic edge here and there. The riff and guitar work is strongly influenced by Judas Priest, old Helloween and Manowar.
Some highly recommended listening tips are blasts such as the “Demon Fire”, “Ragnarok” and “Eye of the storm”, but also an epic earwig such as “Men At Arms” is just as good. Ronny Hemlin (Tad Morose) was responsible for the great sound.
“Shadow rising” has 10 tracks and guarantees almost 50 minutes of listening pleasure. In fact, this is the ideal soundtrack for a Viking raid. Far from original, but a damn good (heavy) metal album.
(88/100)
Please read the review at Hell Spawn (In Dutch)