Return of the Snow Giant marks the return of New Jersey's Overlorde – a no-frills, traditional heavy-metal band formed 20 years ago that never quite made it beyond cult status. After a 12-year hiatus, Overlorde reunited in 2000 and signed a two-album deal with the young Greek label Sonic Age Records. Return of the Snow Giant is the first result of that new partnership and bodes well for the future. This time out, ex-Seven Witches banshee Bobby "Leather Lungs" Lucas handles vocal duties, sounding a lot younger than I'm sure he actually is. Lucas joins original players Mark "M.E." Edwards on guitars, John "Kong" Bunucci on bass and Dave Wrenn on drums.
Overlorde still doesn't stray far from its original influences of circa-1970s Rush and Black Sabbath and Eighties-era Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. But neither does the band always play it safe with standard heavy-metal fare on Return of the Snow Giant -- despite the ridiculous title. Rather, by tossing in a few unexpected touches, such as an acoustic guitar in the pre-chorus of "Starcastle," a funky opening to "Blackness" and plenty of overt modern-day progressive-metal aspirations on the nine-minute "Mark of the Wolf," Overlorde proves it's not relying wholly on clichés. That said, the Priest-like riffs on "When He Comes" go a long way toward forgiving this outfit any old-school tendencies.
Track Listing:
1) And the Battle Begins … (0:39)
2) Snow Giant (3:11)
3) Hell Hath No Fury (3:05)
4) Starcastle (5:29)
5) When He Comes (5:28)
6) Metallic Madness (3:46)
7) Blackness (4:16)
8) Ogre Wizard (3:38)
9) Mark of the Wolf (8:53)
10) My Disease (4:58)
11) Trapped By Magic (6:34)
12) Colossus (Island of the Cyclops) (6:21)
13) Overlorde (4:18)
Total Time: 60:44