siLLy puPPy Power metal is one of those genres that either gets me totally excited or leaves me dreadfully cold. It’s a tough nut to crack really. It is by far one of the most demanding styles of metal as far as technical virtuosity is concerned and even more so when it comes to a competent vocalist. It doesn’t help that Helloween set the bar so high all the way back in the 80s that very few bands can rise to the high standards of. Then there are bands like Sweden’s TWILIGHT FORCE that just seem to pull off this style without even trying.

Far from implementing a cookie cutter approach of dissecting a power metal classic and simply reconstituting another band’s sound, TWILIGHT FORCE seems to excel at setting itself apart in a crowded metal universe without losing that classic epic power metal feel. The band has been around for over a decade now and has been compared to bands like Dragonforce for its sheer raw power that excels at rampaging through role-playing game fantasy worlds at ridiculously fast tempos accompanied by extremely versatile vocals and symphonic excesses. In a way TWILIGHT FORCE has picked up where Rhapsody of Fire left off when the band started to become a little stale constantly repeating its formula only delivering much more metal than that band ever has in its sump-rich releases.

Self-designated as adventure metal, AT THE HEART OF WINTERVALE, the band’s fourth studio full-length does indeed deliver a wild 45-minute symphonic power metal journey that takes you into the heart of a Dungeons & Dragons epic saga fortified by lush cinematic classical passages as well as blistering neoclassic guitar solos. The band is famous for its lengthy epic tracks and WINTERVALE features two of them each racing past the ten minute mark and with an energetic drive of seasoned metal magi means that this album is chock filled with passionate delivers of technical deliveries, lush orchestral accoutrements as well as off the hook catchy melodies, a true necessity for any power metal act.

While the metal parts are for the most part fiery and filled with vim and vigor, the classical aspects are what add the most variety to this band’s sound. While tamed down a little from previous releases, TWILIGHT FORCE maintains its grip on an epic fantasy fueled adventure in the truest power metal sense. While it’s not really my favorite grab from the bag, cheery even overly gleeful metal can be fun especially when taken to extremes and with an apparent love of classic Queen’s operatic stylistic approach only delivered in a symphonic power metal packaging, it’s hard not to fall for this band’s attention to detail.

It’s worth mentioning newbie drummer De’Azsh who is an absolute beast with incessant blastbeats that can easily turn into tender contemplative percussion in a millisecond. Founder / guitarist Philip Lindh has a lot to be proud of. It’s certainly not easy to carve out a niche in a the crowded metal world of epic fantasies but something about Sweden in the 21st century that seems like an endless wellspring of creative musicians churning out interesting music in so many disparate genres. While i do find a lot of power metal cheesy or just plain substandard, i have to admit that TWILIGHT FORCE rubs me the right way when it comes to this kind of music and AT THE HEART OF WINTERVALE shows no signs of losing steam.