Victorius
Heart of the Phoenix

According to the press information this is the forth album by German power metal band Victorius. It is called Heart of the Phoenix and it looks cliché power metal through and trough, from cover to title. The press info also informs about a band that has shared stages with many bands, who plays on strong melodies, fast and heavy rhythms and sharp vocals – not really much info that actually feels interesting. Any band who has played a festival can claim to have played with big names in the business, all the thing I really learnt from the press sheet was who produced the album and that the band has three albums before this one.

This power metal album is of the German school, the more heavy part of it, similar to bands like Wizard or Mystic Prophecy. They build on strong choruses and decent melodies with familiar song structures and everything. The production is pretty good although I would not claim that it is something that stands out in comparison with the genre average, decent sound but nothing that makes you stop and take notice. And that is the thing about this album; it offers no real surprises besides the ending track that stands out a little from the rest of the album.

The 46-minute playing time feels on the long side considering that the time between the end of the title track and beginning of the ending track feels extremely bland and I find myself not listening to this part every time I listen to this album. The ending track is great, the first track and the title track are also decent hit songs and those three really saves this album from a rating on the lower end of our scale. I would call this a pretty average album with some noteworthy exceptions that could actually make it seem slightly more interesting than your average release.

I would not call this album victorious; there are elements that could be built on to create a winning album in the future but not really this time. Power metal collectors will probably find it interesting, but to me it is just a decent album that doesn’t really stand out much in the massive competition that exists within this genre. Your really need something more interesting that this if you want to be victorious.

HHHHHHH