ALBUM REVIEW: Wall Of Skulls – Brainstorm

Gothic-tinged power metallers BRAINSTORM have had quite the lengthy career, but only seem to be getting better with age. Their previous record – 2018’s Midnight Ghost – was a well-rounded collection of songs that earned them some much deserved praise, but Wall Of Skulls is even better. Their writing skills have improved incrementally with each release, and on their thirteenth album they hit the proverbial bullseye on a consistent basis.

Having had a relatively stable line-up for years though this isn’t surprising. Three of the current members have been present since day one, while singer Andy B. Franck joined in 1999, and spending decades together perfecting their craft has turned them into a finely-tuned machine. These songs are packed with memorable moments and each could easily become a fan favourite.

Turn Off The Light for instance is a bare-chested, fist-pumping number. Some driving guitar work segues into a macho chorus before ORDEN OGAN frontman Seeb Levermann joins in for a rousing three and a half minutes of sonic thunder. The recently-released Glory Disappears meanwhile is a perfect power-metal single; it’s big, overwrought and has a vocal hook that lodges itself deep in the cerebral cortex and refuses to budge. It’s also the perfect length and gets the job done without hanging around too long.

The forceful My Dystopia is another single-in-waiting with a suitably melancholic flourish to its galloping riffs, while the opening Where Ravens Fly is a lung-bursting anthem. It’s going to sound huge when they get a decent crowd to bellow it back at them, while End Of My Innocence is a classic 80s metal throwback. This one deserves to be played while a bad boy with a heart of gold rides his motorcycle along an empty highway, heading for a showdown with his arch nemesis and reminiscing over a montage of past events.

BRAINSTORM’s chief selling point however is that they’re less upbeat than some of their contemporaries. They’re still beautifully over-dramatic, but these are songs designed for anguished fist-clenching in elaborate Cathedrals, rather than jaunting round maypoles with forest elves. This does make them sound like a metal band auditioning for Phantom Of The Opera, but they fully embrace their moonlit edge and it’s easy to get swept along with them.

Throw in the high theatrics of Solitude and enough enthusiasm to launch a billionaire’s midlife crisis into space and you’ve got a thoroughly good classic-style metal album. BRAINSTORM have become something of an institution in European power metal since the turn of the millennium and they do nothing to dent their reputation here. Wall Of Skulls is them firing on all cylinders, confident in their abilities and performing at a high level. You’ll be humming these melodies for weeks.

Rating: 9/10

Wall Of Skulls is set for release on September 17th via AFM Records.

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