Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe the song The Book Of Heavy Metal was a regular feature for the screens at Bloodstock many years ago? Regardless amongst my group of friends it has become something of an anthem, a mainstay of festival playlists and nights out. It’s stupid, catchy as hell and all out Power/ Heavy Metal fury. Their song December 25th is likewise a big banger in our household at Christmas time. How do they match up on the album front though? Well their The Book Of Heavy Metal full length certainly packs some punches but generally I do find Dream Evil to be more of a ‘greatest hits’ band, as such I was eager to see if Metal Gods their latest and seventh full length would prove to be a masterpiece. The album comes through Century Media Records and here’s how it plays out.

As if the album title wasn’t a bold enough statement the opener is the title track. However, it pays homage to the Metal Gods of old rather than necessarily being like ‘hey, we’re the Metal Gods now’’. In typical Dream Evil fashion it’s relentlessly catchy. The guitars chug along with a sort of ‘modern’ tones, the drums are generic and the vocals aren’t drastically special either, but damn those hooks and that lyrical content, it’s everything I want from Power Metal. Chosen Force brings in similarly uninspired keyboards, but again it’s a big catchy banger, not a patch on the title track but nonetheless entertaining. Next up we ‘sail across the mighty sea’ with The Tyrant Dies At Dawn, it’s pretty banging and the seemingly seven seas air about it makes me think of the likes of Running Wild and Visions Of Atlantis, so I’ve got a lot of time for that. Covering more Metal topics like lightning comes Lightning Strikes. It’s pretty catchy and fun I guess but it pales a bit in comparison to prior tracks. Bringing the riffs is Fight In The Night, simple but highly effective on the guitar front. Truly, this might also be the best song on the album, it’s ridiculously good Power Metal, that chorus is something else.

Into the second half with Masters Of Arms which is a bit of a downer following the exceptional Fight In The Night. That said, it’s still not exactly bad and honestly I thought I’d be a lot more over this album by now, what with Dream Evil feeling like a bit more of a singles over albums bands. Surely a song called Born In Hell on a Power Metal album can’t be bad right? Well, it’s pretty good, maybe not as good as I anticipated but it has some good crowd chanting portions which I can imagine would be fantastic live. Insane luckily picks things up again, it’s pretty much the same guitar and drums as the rest of the album but vocally it has some hook heavy portions. Kind of unconventional lyrical territory for a Power Metal band next with Night Stalker, naturally about Richard Ramirez. It’s a pretty quality song and as someone with a great interest in serial killer history it clicks. It’s time to close the album with Y.A.N.A. which I think is supposed to stand for ‘you are nothing at all’ which would actually be Y.A.N.A.A. but then that discrepancy plays well into the cheese of Dream Evil. It’s still a pretty solid song too.

Okay so maybe this is an example of some cracking songs and a bit of filler but overall it’s a solid Power/ Heavy Metal record. If you’re already a fan then I imagine you’ll love this, if you’re a newcomer you might not get the hype and I’d urge you to check out The Book Of Heavy Metal (the whole album). This sort of music makes me so happy though and honestly next to my love of Slam/ Death Metal I would say Heavy Metal is my go to. If you like the silliness and the true Metal power of Manowar then there’s a little something for you in Metal Gods.

(8/10 George Caley)

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https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/metal-gods-24-bit-hd-audio