Time Signature Worth a tale...

Genre: power metal

It is a known fact that Germans know how to make good metal. Take for example Elmsfire from Düsseldorf and their debut album "Thieves of the Sun".

The name "Elmsfire" may tempt you to expect power metal, and that is indeed what you get indeed. Fortunately (for me at least), we are not dealing with the typical über cheesy happy puppy type of power metal that is typically associated with Europe, but rather with tasteful melodic power metal with plenty of influence from traditional heavy metal. Most of the songs on the album are kept at a comfortable mid-pace, but they are spiced up with both uptempo paces and heavier rhythms. There is definitely an epic feel to the disc, generated, among other things, by the use of keyboards as well as the genre-typical big and catchy choruses.

At times Elmsfire sound, without being a rip-off, like they were massively inspired by Running Wild - especially in the, shall we say, maritime 'Ahab' as well as in 'Taipouri Ake Tõnu Atu' - and there appears to be an influence from Blind Guardian as well. As mentioned, I am not trying to insinuate that Elmsfire are ripping off these two legendary metal act; I am merely trying to state that this album shares qualities with the music associated with Running Wild and Blind Guardian, and this is essentially intended to be a complement.

The production is clear and polished - which is a positive attribute in this case - and the professionalism that characterizes the musicianship on this album definitely does not make matters worse. Unfortunately, the album is simply too short, and there is too much, for my taste at least, filler material in the form of monologues and small instrumental intros and intermezzos.

"Thieves of the Sun" is definitely a quality album, and fans of melodic power metal can certainly recommend giving it a listen or two.