If one were somehow able to take In Your Honour, or even the Australian metal band Black Majesty as a unit, and ignore the entire rest of the melodic metal world, they would be quite good. However, we don’t live in a vacuum, and the music contained here is unoriginal to the millionth degree, even despite being a better effort than the previous three albums.

It’s a bit frustrating to write an review like this one, because I want to like Black Majesty. I want to be able to overlook the fact that they have, in a nutshell, released virtually the same album over and over. As an enthusiast of such music, perhaps I could. However, in the world of subjective critics, it is simply unacceptable and unfair to your fans to not even attempt to bring something fresh to the table. Until they do so, they will forever be relegated to “that one Australian band that opened for Helloween/Dragonforce/Nevermore/etc”.

Want some great power speed metal? Nearly all the tracks fulfill, the exceptions being God of War and Follow, which are more mid-paced, and the ballad Break These Chains. The 80’s-tinged harmonic-driven soloing is excellent, particularly on Further Than Insane, and this aspect might actually be the one that has improved the most.

The song structures are formulaic as well – how many different ways can a band repeat verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/solo/chorus? Riffing on the song intros are all-too-familiar, especially the octave melodies. Even the song titles are yawn-inducing, most of which seem to have been “borrowed” from other bands. The production is great (mixed by Roland Grapow) and John Cavaliere’s vocals are competent, although I still get the feeling that he lacks the control to stay on-pitch sometimes.

Even bands known for repetition (Primal Fear, for example) have taken great strides to reinvent their sound, albeit with varying results. After three albums, however, even great-sounding metal that sounds identical to each previous release has to be criticized a bit more harshly. There are simply too many quality releases out there – especially this year – to spend much time appreciating the déjà vu that is In Your Honour. For those who have never heard quality European-style melodic metal, this would be a rather good first listen. For everyone else . . . you’ve probably heard it before.