Iron Savior – Unification – Review

Iron Savior

Unification (Noise)
by Scott Hefflon

One thing I have to say about this new breed of epic heavy metal bands: they give you yer money’s worth. Unlike punk bands who charge full price for CDs that barely crack the 30-minute mark (anything less is an EP), heavy metal and electronica are kind enough to spiral the tales on for 60-75 minutes. Too bad most electronica bores the living piss out of me. But classic heavy metal, ah, now there’s a guilty pleasure many have harbored for the last decade, trying to explain that sure, you have all the Gamma Ray records, but you have a fine collection of Meshuggah and Cannibal Corpse albums too, OK? But with power/heavy/call-it-whatever-doesn’t-get-you-laughed-at metal on the rise, finally the battle cries can be howled and air guitar can again be played on the thighs of suburban metalheads across this great country.

Unification has all the fine attributes of classic German heavy metal (borderline speed metal, but with a helluva lot more melody, passionate singing, and not nearly so much tuff guy-ism). Interestingly enough, much of Iron Savior‘s phenomenal guitarwork has Brian May-ish tendencies. It’s kinda hard to describe, but if you know Queen’s layered bends and wide-open warbles, ya know what I mean. So with Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray, ex-Helloween) and Pete Sielck (producer of Blind Guardian, Saxon, Grave Digger, and occasional penner for Gamma Ray) together again, you can overlook the silly concept stringing together these peppy, intricate, sing-alongable songs (something about a futuristic spaceship that once protected Atlantis coming back to destroy us) and revel in the majesty of immaculate German engineering.
(12358 Ventura Blvd. #386 Studio City, CA 91504)