A Hero for the World
West To East Pt. I - Frontier Vigilante

Us hallowed writes have not been very kind to A Hero for the World in the past; both releases we have reviewed have been met with some harsh criticism. Now they return with a new album, a changed band perhaps, names have changed and judging by the press sheet this is even more a one-man thing of Jacob Kaasgaard whose only band companion is a female vocalist. And he takes on an ambitious journey from west to east, a frontier adventure through the Wild West as told in stories and movies of the Wild West era. And I am not sure that all the gold in Klondike could have helped avoiding the cheesy sensation I experience just reading about the album, it makes me think of Scrooge McDuck, a real hero for the world and actually on balance a whole lot less cheesy than this.

It is power metal of the cheesy kind, catchy and often overstepping the thin line that separates greatness from silliness. The vocals are quite average, the female vocals are quite fine but the ones from Jacob are ordinary. The sound could certainly have been better, perhaps they should have spend more of the gold from Klondike, or remain at Yukon, Dawson to find more in order to pay someone skilled to handle the technical aspects as this album sounds rather cheap, sometimes even sheep. Still, it is a gigantic step forward compared with the previous release I wrote about, this album has more to offer, even though it is just barely longer than that seventy minute EP I was referring to. Too long is not exaggerating and I would say that the best way to really describe this album is as follows: Take the cheesiest power metal band you know, remove any humour and then make it cheesier, then you cheapen the production – voila: A Hero for the World.

Not very heroic in my opinion, cowardly is closer to my view on this album. They take such an adventurous theme and then turn it into something so average, which is not right, I think. Nevertheless, it isn’t really too bad, it has some glimpses of adequacy and some heroism even though it is a long way until I would consider them anywhere near a hero for this world. And while I am at the critical aspect, perhaps spending a few more gold nuggets on people who know how to produce music, it would have been worth it as it is rather obvious that Jacob doesn’t really have what it takes to do the songs justice. Perhaps a few good band members wouldn’t hurt either, one-man things often turns out uninspired, dull or ridiculous, you often need feedback and other eyes on your work to really evaluate its quality. But at least it isn’t too bad this time, and a step forward is always good.

Fans of the band’s previous works should like this as well, it is of the same vein but better. Still, it is not good and it is really quite a way before these guys start to make music that feels a bit more heroic. But with the step they have taken from the previous work to this one it is not out of the question to guesstimate that their next album will be rather good – lets at least end on that positive note.

HHHHHHH