UMUR "Embrace the World" is the 3rd album (and the last in their original run) by Dutch power metal act Harrow. The album was released through Power Records in March 1999. It´s the successor to "Call of the Unborn" from 1996 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Ferry Bult has been replaced by Martin Kuipers.

Stylistically the material on "Embrace the World" continue the dark and heavy power metal style (with progressive metal and thrash metal leanings) of the two predecessors. At this point Harrow have perfected their sound and style and there are therefore few surprises when listening to the album. What you do get here is high quality songwriting, high level musical performances (including a skilled and powerful vocalist in Frank van Gerwen), and a heavy and powerful sounding production, which suits the material perfectly.

I´m often blown away by the powerful nature of the riffs and heavy rhythms, and the vocals are a great asset too. Although van Gerwen can hit the high notes when that is needed, he is predominantly a more aggressive and raw sounding power metal singer, and it definitely adds to the impression of "Embrace the World" as a heavy and dark power metal release. Upon conclusion "Embrace the World" is another quality release from Harrow and although they are seldom mentioned among the greats when it comes to power metal, they certainly could deserve a little more attention. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Time Signature The Strength of the metal...

Genre: power metal

A lot of power metal tends to be pompuous, often bordering on the extremely cheesy. Now, this pompuousity and cheesiness has very much become an integral part of the pwer metal genre. Generally, I have no problem with this, but sometimes I think it can be too much. And then it's refreshing with power metal bands who focus on the power and on the metal and less on being epic and pompuous, such as Nevermore, Rawhead Rexx, Vicious Rumors, and Harrow.

Harrow's fourth and last album "Embrace the World" is a power metal effort which draws on thrash metal and some traditional heavy metal. While there are some symphonic tendencies on this album, the focus is on power, melody and heavy metal guitars, and the symphonic effects are kept in the background. There are also some unusual elements, which reflect a sort of progressive mindset, such as the saxophone solo on "Life Lies Down".

"Life Lies Down" is a noteworthy track because of the sax solo. Another stand-out track is the King Diamond-esque "Masquerade of War" as is the title track "Embrace the World" which is almost a regular progressive metal track.

I think that fans of traditional metal and power metal who need a break from cheesiness will appreciate this album, which is a very good power metal album. Perhaps some thrash metal fans will like it, too.