There’s been changes afoot since Swedish Metal band Lancer’s 3rd album “Mastery” emerged back in 2017, as you would probably expect with a gap of six years. The band’s Heavy/Power Metal delivery now has a new powerhouse engine in the shape of drummer Pontus Andren steering the rhythmical ship. Additionally, and possibly most notably, they’ve recruited Vandor vocalist Jack L. Stroem into their ranks, who has one of those fabulous European Metal voices that’s so utterly familiar it would suit any band perfectly, yet you just can’t put your finger on quite who he sounds like.

This line-up shuffle (Guitarist Fredrik Kelemen and bassist Emil Öberg remain a constant alongside Guitarist Per-Owe “Ewo” Solvelius who joined just after “Second Storm” was released back in 2015) has also facilitated a slight change in Metal direction as the band nudge away from the Hammerfall-esque leanings of previous albums and manage here to produce a more varied album. There’s still plenty of galloping Power Metal moments to get your teeth into, but there are also some edgy Progressive elements, a good dash of Melodic Metal catchiness (There’s even what some may describe as a power ballad buried in there) and a good healthy swathe of fist-pumping, dynamic Heavy Metal.

Öberg pushes his intricate, technical bass playing to the fore when invited, giving the band the feeling of a triple-stringed assault at times, as well as lending the songs an extra edge. The vocals however are possibly the factor that has allowed the band to push their boundaries more, as Stroem’s multi-octave voice lends itself easily to any style of Metal that the band throw at him. The way I’m describing their songs, you might think this could be a disjointed album, but quite the reverse, it has a cohesion that transcends each song and means the different styles the band are now incorporating ramp up the interest levels. This is the band’s most diverse album to date, but as well as having plenty of layers and hidden depths, it also knows how to grab your attention from start to finish.

(8/10 Andy Barker)

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