J-Man Holy Force is a relatively new power metal supergroup consisting of accomplished musicians from acts like Symphony X, Manowar, Yngwie Malmsteen, and a host of other metal bands. This impressive lineup have crafted some really killer power metal tunes for this self-titled debut album, and people who enjoy heavy-edged American power metal with influences from traditional heavy metal and European neo-classical power metal should get this one in their collection immediately. Holy Force obviously don't set out to re-invent the wheel with this album, but the quality of the musicianship and compositions are high enough to make Holy Force worth a look from fans of the genre.

The music here is a cross between power metal, neo-classical shred, and 80's heavy metal. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but Holy Force delivers the style with an immense amount of professionalism and craftsmanship. Ango Chen's intricate guitar work never ceases to amaze the listener, and this album is filled with powerful riffs, soaring solos, and mind-blowing shred antics. The rest of the band is always tight and precise, and Holy Force is an extremely well-playing act across the board. The compositions themselves - despite always being well-written and professional - seldom reach a level of excellence, and most of the album strikes me as "very good, but not excellent". There are exceptions, but most of the album remains at a constant level of compositional quality.

All in all, Holy Force have crafted an album here that's professional and impressive, even if it rarely makes my blood boil. If you enjoy power metal and are okay with a somewhat "by-the-books" approach, by all means check out this debut. Holy Force is bound to contain some of the most impressive guitar work you'll hear this entire year! I'll play my 3 star card here - I can't see myself revisiting the album very much, but the quality is dependable and impressive all the way through. This one comes recommended from me - just don't expect anything revolutionary!

The Block Holy Force’s debut is easily one of the best power metal releases of 2011. With most of their members originating from progressive and heavy metal backgrounds the music on this album takes the best of both traditional, power, and progressive (albeit not much, though) and blends it into a great album. The power metal sections of the album definitely lean towards European power metal, which immediately indicates epic riffs and catchy choruses, swirled around neoclassical leanings. Another great thing about this album is Mike LePond. If you recognize his name, you should. He’s the bassist of Symphony X, and a great one at that. Besides him there’s Ango Chen, the mastermind behind Holy Force, and Mark Boals, who have both played with Yngwie Malmsteen. Rounding it off is former Manowar drummer Kenny Earl, who definitely makes this a supergroup of sorts.

The music is pretty guitar driven, which is understandable considering the lead man, Ango Chen plays guitar. That being said, everyone gets their chance to shine on this album and overall this album is very balanced. The shredding on this album is absolutely tremendous, and comes in both classic and neoclassical form. Most of the songs are heavy driven, powered by great drumming from Kenny Earl, but there are a select few songs, such as “Sky Etude” which a happy, cheery, and upbeat. One weird thing about “Sky Etude” is that it’s a piano etude, which is very good and all, but no one on this album plays piano, at least it’s not noted anywhere. That brings up the question, did they program it? Hopefully that is not the case, but I don’t know.

Overall the musicianship on this album is top notch, and it’s made all the better by the great compositions that make up the album. Any fan of power metal or heavy metal should definitely look into this great 2011 release, and I’m sure they won’t be let down. 4 stars is surely deserved here.

Time Signature We are the warriors...

Genre: power metal

On this their debut album, Holy Force combine traditional metal and power metal - leaning mostly towards power metal though, and mostly Euro power metal. This means epic and catchy choruses, lots of melody, neoclassical elements and mostly uptempo tracks, but also a bit of cheesiness (mostly in the form of Sonata Arctica-like keyboards).

Holy Force is guitarist Ango Chen's brainchild, the music is understandably guitar-driven, but never to such an extent that it belittles the other musicians (we are, after all, dealing with Mike LePond, Rhino, and Mark Boals), who - of course - perform very solidly on this album. There are a lot of guitar solos, delivered with a classic 80s epic stadium lead guitar sound, and Chen shows that he masters both neoclassical shredding and melodic rock feel in his solos (it also sounds like he throws some Asian elements in there, probably probably traceable back to his Taiwanese roots).

The musicianship is top top notch, and if you like epic melodic European power metal with the sensibility of melodic metal, then you should check out Holy Force's debut album.