Dark Illusion has actually been around since the early 80’s, the dawn of proper heavy metal music as we know it. The Swedes didn’t release anything until the new millennium, and we only got our first taste of them back in 2003, 21 years after the band was conceived in a dark, dirty, haze-filled meatball-serving Swedish pub. Their first full-length, while never groundbreaking, got decent creds around the underground back in 2005. It boasted 80’s Maiden-worship with a solid pinch of hard rock, never straying far from their roots. They found their way to my digital shelf through a recommendation from Apple’s Genius service (based on Iron Maiden I think), and Where the Eagles Fly, catchy and heart-warming as it is, has gotten a fair share of playtime on my iPhone since.

So, Where the Eagles Fly is a nice slab of recycled but cool, crisp and cheery heavy metal loaded with resemblances to earlier versions of Nocturnal Rites, Hammerfall, Morifade and Dreamland, spiced with Maiden-esque riffing and chorus lines, and the occasional nod to the Deep Purple-era of early metal as well as both Dio and Rainbow. A healthy amount of rocking AOR-like backing vocals are sprinkled over to top it all off. There’s of course the occasional downside like the boring failure of an attempt to pull off something Dio-like (Read: Evil Masquerade), but other than that this is pretty neat. Of course there’s nothing here you haven’t heard before, and you’ve probably heard it done better more than often. However, songs like the speedy Dark Journey, slower, crunchier Land of Street Survivor, catchy-as-fuck Pay the Price and lots of other goodies to sing/headbang/air-guitar along to makes this worth a listen or four. I would certainly believe that this is an album that will make many a devoted metal fan all warm and fuzzy inside. Straight forward 80’s styled heavy/power metal is rarely picked over the vast array of tedious, “original” bands nowadays, and it’s good to see that some acts aren’t afraid to stay close to their roots even if it won’t get them heaps of publicity.

This ranks as one of those albums that are fun as hell to spin once in a while. I would have been surprised if this turned a lot of heads when it was released, something it obviously didn’t, seeing as how you guys haven’t blasted us for not reviewing this until now. Some of the melodies and choruses will definitely stick in your head for hours and even days. However, you will not be making detours home from work just so you can listen a couple of extra minutes to Where the Eagles Fly. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what you have Slough Feg for. Now, give this a shot, have a beer and a smoke and bang your head to some solid, sock-rocking, power-infused old school heavy metal.