After 5 long years, the second THRONE OF IRON full – length album is upon us. After 2020’s Adventure One, we now have in our hands, lo and behold, Adventure Two! As evident by the title, the band delves in the familiar themes of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), tabletop gaming and general fantasy adventuring once again. And they do so even more successfully than last time.
As the album’s opener, Denied, kicks in, the listener is once again reminded of the traits that make THRONE OF IRON great. There is a definitive retro feeling, yet it carries none of the pretentiousness one sometimes comes across in the nwothm movement. The guitars are prevalent in the mix, in the songwriting and they are as heavy as they should be. Last but not least, the old school vocals. A love letter to the more unrefined heavy metal vocalist, they bring the entire vibe together.
The Oath, the first single released for this record, is another great showcase of the band’s strong points. It boasts a great main riff and it goes out powerfully as well. The accompanying video clip also represents THRONE OF IRON beautifully. A vintage heavy metal and D&D aesthetic, with respect to the era, but also without taking themselves too seriously. This is supposed to be FUN, and the video wonderfully displays that.
As mentioned beforehand, the band’s love of D&D runs rampant in this record as well, with some of the songs even named after spells from the game (Divine Smite, Detect Evil). The band is also not shy about adding long instrumental preludes to a couple of the songs (The Final Rage, The Ninth Level) making for a more interesting listening experience.
Finally, in the press release for this album, THRONE OF IRON warned us that the songs are “faster, heavier, louder and meaner” than anything they’ve written before. Boy let me tell you, they were not lying. Case and point the in your face Detect Evil, flexing blazing guitars and an aggressive take on the vocals, as well as its following track, City of Brass.
THRONE OF IRON might not take themselves too seriously, but they’re definitely serious about their music. One can tell that there is a lot of work behind this release and that hard work has definitely paid off. Their sophomore album being even better than their debut, THRONE OF IRON loudly announce that they are here to stay.
THRONE OF IRON – Adventure Two will be released by No Remorse Records on March 7th 2025.
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Check the discussion about the album in our forum pages.
