With all guitar duties being handled by axemen from the battle harnessed barbarians of Eternal Champion you immediately wonder if Sumerlands too will host epic yarns of sword and sorcery. Well no, not exactly. Although you can still pick out their guitar work a mile away, ‘Dreamkiller’ has a distinctly different feel, not only from Eternal Champion, but also from Sumerlands’ previous record. The photo cover gracing the front of the album could have been a still from the Mad Max franchise with its burnt-out sand buggy in the middle of the desert, promising some apocalyptic tales of doom and dread.

Starting in rather familiar fashion the opening track ‘Twilight Points the Way’ fires up the guitars with a galloping chorus and Radigan proving he’s a more than competent replacement for Swanson. ‘Heavens Above’ has a surprising AOR, 80’s progressive vibe too it. This was the first song put out from the new album in a very limited tape format along with an exclusive and surprising Fleetwood Mac cover. The soaring vocals take even more of a center stage here.

Next up is the title track for which they’ve also made a pretty DIY looking video. This up tempo rocking stomper is again much closer to the debut. It could have been on a classic Ozzy Osbourne record, in its heydays with Randy Rhoads’ blazing riffage. I kinda almost hoped it would have been a bit closer to Dokken’s  Nightmare on Elm Street anthem ‘Dream Warriors’, but that’s just my nerdy mind at work here. Besides the lightning fast axe work at play here, I love the small details Rizk worked in there like the sounding of the bells mid phrase of the refrain “as the bells they chime”

 ‘Night Ride’ shifts down a gear or two. It’s a calm song, again bringing in that AOR quality, with some great bass work and a twang of Queensrÿche in there. The start somehow reminds me of a really slow version of Survivor’s ‘Eye of the Tiger’. ‘Edge of the Knife’ balances on the edge of heavy metal and once more radio friendly rock. It’s a perfect song for an 80’s action movie. Actually, that goes for a lot of these songs. You can just imagine Stallone passing by on a motorcycle, gunning down the bad guys with this song blasting. Wafting in on waves of synth ‘Force of a Storm’ comes crashing in. Next to the vintage keys and mock thunderstorm effects, it sweeps along an irresistible sing along chorus and galloping riffs. ‘The Savior’s Lie’ kicks off with some killer bluesy riffing and Radigan lamenting the poor state of this Mad Max world.

The debut ended on an instrumental track with a very cinematic feel. Cute, but inevitably a tad superfluous. On ‘Dreamkiller’ however, the closing track ‘Death to Mercy’ would have been a perfectly fitting song title for the next Eternal Champion record. In the guise of Sumerlands, the song is less about crushing your enemies and seeing them driven before you. Definitely ending the album on a high though. Awesome track with stunning solos at the end.

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