Quick quiz! The name of the band is Black Destiny. The name of the album is Black Is Where Our Hearts Belong. What style of Metal does the band play? If you answered Black Metal, like I did, you were wrong. Black Destiny plays Heavy Power Metal. However, they don’t copy Helloween, Gamma Ray and Hammerfall for umpteenth time. Instead, they go for their own, quite a bit heavier, delivery, despite coming from Germany – the capital of Power Metal.

The opener Widow provides a clue of what this album is going to be like. Blasting drums and screams transition into heavy riffs coupled with the gruff, very manly vocals. Same lower tone vocals resonate extremely well during song’s catchy chorus when the drums perform something I call a “rolling” beat. Blasting drums resurface towards the song’s end with the backup vocals being almost growly. Black Destiny is a melting pot. Varying rhythms, varying vocal delivery, varying guitar styles. There are all kinds of songs on the album yet all fit under the Power Metal banner. One can find mid-pace anthems Viking and Words of Sorrow, almost thrash songs, like Creator of Descent, or spirited fast sprints In Battle for Metal. Guitars can range from awesome steady chops (Viking) to rangy solos (Wolf) or prominent bass lines (Thirst). One of the main attractions, however, are vocals. Michael Seifert at times reminded me Eric Adams, Matt Barlow, or even Rob Halford. He is not as polished as the singer from Lost Horizon, but just as convincing. This band got talent and can make it in the somewhat overpopulated genre. A few drawbacks include not very clean production (probably has something to do with the band being on the small label Iron Glory Records). Guitar tone is not always heavy enough, and some solos simply break songs up without contributing much. Also, with 11 tracks not all songs are of the same high quality. All things are correctable.

Let me tell you this. I have put a few songs from this CD on a sampler I burned myself which I called “Power Metal with Balls”. I played it once to my carpool friend. While I happen to find a grain of good in everything, he is an extremely tough guy to be convinced anything is above average from the first listen. Every time Black Destiny song came up his ears perked up.

This album can be very tricky to get, and may take you a few extra $$ to do so. However, melodies on Wolf, Viking, Words of Sorrow can be so catchy you would be playing them in your head for a long time. Otherwise, write me for a refund. I am confident you will not.