Relatively new to the scene, Power Metal crusaders Krilloan waste no time in unleashing their second instalment of unapologetic, bombastic, galloping Power Metal. With as much Metal subtlety as a house brick, standing on another house brick, surrounded by more house bricks, all wearing “We Are House Bricks, Deal With It” T-Shirts, their debut “Emperor Rising” was an unyielding, joyous hurtle through the faster realms of fantastical Power Metal and it’s follow-up. “Return Of The Heralds” immediately wades neck-deep into where that impressive debut left off. Who needs subtlety?!

I was very fortunate to be ‘in at the beginning’ as it were, reviewing 2022’s “Emperor Rising” for these very pages and I was certainly full of deserved praise. Happily, my original opinion – that the band expertly blend Nordic Power with Italian flamboyance, full of theatrical flair with soaring vocals and galloping double-kick drums, incorporating everything from Hypertrace-era Scanner, through Rhapsody Of Fire into Lost Horizon, still stands. Why find different words if you don’t need to? That tricky second album feeling hasn’t really got a look in to be honest as Krilloan gallop from one mighty Power Metal anthem to another.

There’s that word again – Gallop. But the songs just do exactly that! They’re focused, but also bounce like Tigger on a triple espresso and a major sugar rush – positive, uplifting and jam-packed with energy. For me personally, what’s not to like? It’s possible that the song-writing has matured a little if I was being boringly analytical, there’s maybe a bit more depth in the arrangements this time around, more in evidence once the initial tornado of the album’s first listen has subsided, but it’s all delivered with that same wonderful buoyancy as before. As with the debut, there’s a ballad tucked away in there, but it gives a little respite (if it was needed) and is delivered with a folk-tinged, classic Blind Guardian edge that distances it enough from anything of a dairy-type persuasion, giving it a degree of heft and class.

Because although this is an album dripping with high octane vim, it’s equally a very classy lump of molten Power Metal. The drums and bass drive every song hastily forward, the source of that unflinching energy, and the guitar-work is both powerful and intricate, with some great lead-breaks. Alex VanTrue’s vocals dazzle once again, shifting from intense mid-range to fabulous high-pitch with seemingly effortless ease, the ideal vehicle to carry those memorable melodies and catchy hooks for maximum impact. This is an album that hits you in the face immediately and I reckon the songs draw you in from all angles, musically, rhythmically, vocally and melodically – but then maybe I’m biased, as I’m a total sucker for the exact area of Power Metal that this album is coming from.

(8.5/10 Andy Barker)

https://www.facebook.com/KrilloanOfficial

https://scarletrecords.bandcamp.com/album/return-of-the-heralds