After a five year wait, admittedly containing an EP in 2022, ADAMANTIS’ second full length album is now a reality. A highly expected reality at that, since the quintet from Brighton, Massachusetts made waves with their exciting 2020 debut, Far Flung Realm. Well these waves will only be getting larger with this one. Reforged is a robust power metal album, combining interesting compositional ideas, with an epic heavy metal vibe.
The album kicks off with Ride for Ruin, showcasing fast and aggressive guitarwork, aptly fitting its JJR Tolkien theme. The participation of the iconic Jeff Loomis on this track only further elevates the result. The band follows up with the substantially more mid tempo Steelclad before the instrumental Funeral For a King flows into the title track Reforged. Here the speed picks up again, and we have textbook uplifting power metal to conclude the first half of the album.
However, the second half is where ADAMANTIS flex their songwriting muscles and the album really shines. It starts off with the 6 minute 18 second The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, a dark and epic track that transports the listener to the magical yet melancholic and treacherous world of the last emperor of Melniboné. Time of Contempt successfully follows a similar aesthetic. The penultimate track, Gates of Miklagard, the longest on the album, mixes it up a little between tempos, and delivers a great anthemic chorus, that I will be singing along to for many days to come. The CD version concludes with the bonus track the Fall of Asterius, another speedier yet epic track that could easily have taken the place of any other one on the album.
ADAMANTIS’ sophomore album serves as a confirmation of the high hopes created by their debut across the heavy metal scene. The power metal hopefuls deliver another strong piece of work and make another firm step in the right direction.
ADAMANTIS – Reforged will be released by No Remorse Records on March 7th 2025.
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