German power metal veterans Brainstorm formed back in 1989, but they didn't start recording and releasing albums until nearly a decade later, with 1997's Hungry. Since then however, they've been a pillar of consistency and quite prolific, with their latest Reigning Phoenix Music platter Plague of Rats another in a fine line of crushing releases from this often overlooked band.
Led as always by the commanding pipes of one Andy B. Franck, Brainstorm have always been one of the heavier and darkest of all the power metal acts to surface over the last 30 years, and albums like Liquid Monster, Soul Temptation, Downburst, Memorial Roots, and Wall of Skulls, just to name a few, are some of the best the genre has to offer. Add Plague of Rats to that list, as the band has cranked out another impressive set of metal songs here that deliver on all fronts. Torsten Ihlenfeld & Milan Loncaric churn out one heavy riff after another along with sizzling solos on tracks such as "From Hell", the more melodic and epic sounding "Garuda (Eater of Snakes)" (with a killer Franck vocal!), the crushing opener "Beyond Enemy Lines", and the snarling "The Dark of Night".
Toss in some stellar production and top-notch cover artwork, and you have another smashing album from these always dependable Germans.
Track Listing
1)Beyond Enemy Lines
2)Garuda (Eater of Snakes)
3)False Memories
4)The Shepherd Girl
5)Your Soul That Lingers in Me
6)Masquerade Conspiracy
7)From Hell
8)The Dark of Night
9)Crawling
10)Curtains Fall
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