The artwork for the cover is again a gorgeous fantasy painting, courtesy of renowned fantasy illustrator Michael Whelan. More than in any other genre, the cover artwork is such an integral part of the experience of a metal album. And this is nowhere more true than in a fantasy fueled subgenre like this one, allowing your imagination to roam free and picture the story in your mind.  Whelan’s painting of the two warrior women is sublime and just begging to be put on a T-shirt.

For the most part of their output so far, Smoulder keeps walking the middle road between old school doom and classic heavy metal, with more than a nod to the likes of Cirith Ungol and Manilla Road. However, from the title track onwards, it very quickly becomes apparent that the band has stepped up their game considerably since their previous outing. While some may have considered Sarah Ann’s voice as an acquired taste, the bass player is also clearly having the time of his life here and pretty much to the fore in the mix. Production values are handled by none other than Eternal Champion‘s Artur Rizk, who has become a much sought after producer these days and for the kind of epic axe-wielding like Smoulder does, you couldn’t ask for a better guide.

‘The Talisman and the Blade’ lashes out with lightning-fast guitar leads and a drummer who has clearly had way too many Red Bulls. At the end of the song, the rhythm section really lets it rip with an unexpected blasting section. This is not the only time Smoulder will pick up the pace significantly from the more moderate pace of their debut or the lumbering EP ‘Dream Quest Ends’, something I can only applaud. Even though some misguided doom purists may argue that point, it truly makes for a far more dynamic and balanced album.

‘Midnight of the Mirror World’ treats us to more fantastic riff wizardry, while ‘Path of Witchery’ makes it clear that the band will no longer accept any speed limits. ‘Victims of Fate’ opens with a solemn spoken word section by none other than Michael Moorcock, the legendary writer of the Elric series. Getting him to agree to add his little touch to their album must have been like a dream come true. The song ends rather remarkably on a long, protracted fade out. Now, I’m usually not too keen on fade outs, as I find them a cheap production trick, but I must say that it’s handled pretty well here. And being the complete music nerds that all the band members are, you just know they did that on purpose.

The most surprising track comes near the end of the record with ‘Spellforger’. As pointed out before, the band seldom goes for a really slow doom pacing anymore. However, this penultimate track takes this up a notch, being a high-octane chaser that immediately launches the song in a higher tempo than they’ve ever gone before. It is the most outstanding track of an already outstanding record, and in many ways a culmination of all the new elements they added in compared to the past. Not just for the faster speed metalesque riffing, but also Sarah Ann’s vocals work out very well on these galloping sections when she’s really pushing her pipes to new realms. This is going to be an absolute live favourite on their upcoming European tour.

While the former burned out remarkably fast in its fiery passion, closer ‘Dragonslayer’s Doom’ spans almost for an impressive ten minutes, in many ways the complete counterpoint to the previous short and sweet stomper. Putting the alpha right next to its omega here showcases just how dynamic and broad their songwriting has become. Not only musically does the band like to show off just how well versed they are in the classic arts of heavy metal, also Sarah Ann’s vocal capabilities are really soaring from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Unless Eternal Champion comes up with something better this year, this is the heavy metal album of the year.

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