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Metalmorphosized is the sixth full-length release from the Danish Power Metal act Iron Fire, as well as the 10th anniversary since their debut full-length Thunderstorm hit shelves. Aside the band's full-length career, they have no really released anything else outside of three demos over time. Surprisingly, the material on these demos were never really made available to the general public outside of some tracks being made available through the band's official website. However, Metalmorphosized acts as a bit of a compilation in that sense, as much of the material that appears here are songs from these three demos. The only problem, for me atleast, is whether or not these songs are taken directly from the band's demo recordings, or re-recorded for this release. Aside their first demo, both demo recordings released in 2003 appear to be full-length recordings in their own, so one would imagine they have a good production quality to them, but it's hard to discern whether it matches the quality of the newer material for this record perfectly or not. On this recording, there are eight songs from the band's demo material, and four newly recorded songs, with one more song taken from the demos, as well as an orchestral version of "Crossroads" to appear on a special digipack edition of the album which was not provided for review. However, judging simply by ear, one would assume that these are the actual demo recordings just transfered onto this disc. While the quality between them sounds remarkably similar, it's hard to listen to the newly recorded tracks "Reborn to Darkness", "Still Alive", "Left for Dead", and "My Awakening", and not hear a distinctive difference in the heaviness of the guitars compared to the rest of the album, such as against "Nightmare" and "Back in the Pit". Aside this issue between the new and old material, Metalmorphosized is an interesting album that offers both heavy, hard hitting songs that have a crushing feeling to them, as well as the more traditional Power Metal songs that retain the band's signature sound, but come off a bit more upbeat then the rest. "Reborn to Darkness" is the song that kicks the album off, and to anyone who just happens to give this a spin and not really know who Iron Fire is, it may be enough to deter the listener at first. Musically, this track is one of the heaviest songs on here, but there's plenty with it that sounds off on your first spin, and will take a few times through with it to start really enjoying it for it's not-so-traditional methods, such as the sound of the guitar during it's solo, the more mechanical deep, somewhat gutteral vocals that are added for affect, and the overall mechanical, stylish feel to the song. Of course, this is the only track on the release that sounds like this. Another big issue here is the obvious advancements in writing. By listening to the new songs, you can hear the changes in the song writing of the band since the demo material presented was originally composed, not really retaining the tighter, darker sound that Iron Fire has been working with in recent years. "Back in the Pit" is a perfect example, as this song comes off more as a fast paced track that could be considered a metal anthem, much like many of their songs, but the twangy bass utilized, as well as the lighter, melodic chorus, clearly shows a different approach to the music that seems more relevant to Iron Fire's writings from their earlier career then where they are now and present themselves on this release. Of course, this may cause some moments of confusion through the album, but there's no denying some of these songs are just great metal songs, and "Back in the Pit" is no exception with it's driving guitars, catchy chorus and haunting keyboards in the background, fast paced double bass and excellent fills, and insane guitar solo. Of all the songs, one of the most interesting on this release would be the track "Crossroads". This is a much slower ballad that is performed as a duet featuring female singer Sofie Emilie Puggaard. All around, the performance on this song is fantastic. The music has a powerful presence that manages to create a suitable haunting atmosphere with additional keyboards added to push that affect. On top of that, the vocals to this song are impressive from both, but, unlike his spectacular performance in the closing powerhouse track "Phantom Symphony", it's Sofie's performance that really stands out as she really seems to push herself more in the long run and have a wider range. "The Underworld" also features guest vocals by Ivan Grosmeyer, which fit nicely with the music and almost blend in with Martin Steene of Iron Fire to the point where, unless paying close attention, you'll miss them. But, outside of "Crossroads" shining through, as mentioned "Reborn to Darkness" really stands out on it's own due to the more stylished, mechanical sound presented, as do the three other new recordings. "The Graveyard" is another enjoyable track that stands out on the release, but moreso for it's simplistic nature that sticks to the more traditional Power Metal approach. From the start of the song, it manages to maintain it's pace until the very end, not necessarily picking up or changing until about two things in when the deeper vocal approach rears it's head for a moment and the music prepares you for the guitar solo that finds the music changed up for a bit, then back to about the same before the solo ends drops the music right back to the more accessable sound it started off with. Keeping in this tradition, the song "Drowning in Blood" makes for a good stand out song, following the same feel as "The Graveyard" but with a little more complexity in the music, and "Nightmare" is another traditional sounding song that just packs a little more punch all around. The only problem with these songs, as well as many of the other demo recordings that are here to accompany the newer ones, is that many of them are very similar to one another, such as the structuring of the chorus and how the vocals are sometimes sung. Add on the fact that many of the songs here don't really have much to offer other just some well played metal, and you get some material that has potential, but can become boring over time with nothing all that inspiring to offer, such as the three songs just outlined. In the end, Metalmorphosized makes for a great album that collects some of, presumably, the band's better demo material, and a few new songs. The album also features appearances by all the former band members of Iron Fire, which leads more to these demo tracks being newly recorded, just with different qualities, though awkwardly different in the same areas from the new tracks. As an anniversary release, it's spot on and really does Iron Fire, and their history, justice. Sure, they could have gone different ways with this, such as just reissuing the three demos in a compilation package, which hopefully will happen at some point in the future anyhow since it's practically two new full-length albums that never really saw the light of day, but it's the unity that this album shows, and musical diversity, that makes it really alluring. The only downfall to that diversity is that there are still some similarities between songs in certain spots, and some of the older material presented here isn't as unique as their newer stuff, sometimes feeling rather bland and uninspired in the long run. |
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