Fer De Lance, despite what the moniker might indicate, is not a band from France and it is not one of those numerous Quebecois black metal bands either. While it is true some of bandmembers have some connection/spend some time in Canada, the band has Chicago, Illinois, listed as its official residence. Wherever the band is from their short debut EP Colossus have managed to combine Hammerheart era Bathory, melodic doom and atmospheric Celtic folk all in one.

Opening up with an acoustic flamenco but changing to marching chords in the opener City in the Sea, Fer De Lance right off the bat claim the mantle of rough’n’tumble minstrels, which they don’t relinquish until Colossus concludes. The aforementioned Bathory, Cruachan, Atlantean Kodex, and maybe even a once in a while off note Blind Guardian of very old vintage, Fer De Lance are heroic and rousing, especially when the melody and solo hits around 3rd minute of City in the Sea. The band can do a mostly acoustic number, a ritual track of sorts, when tribal percussion and native instrumentation leads the way on the title track. The distorted guitar blends in organically and metallic clang ends the track where it started. At the same time guitar and drums maelstrom whip up the most drama on the first half of the band’s eponymous track, until midway through the composition the mood shifts to dark romantic. This is how Triumph and Tragedy opens up, with a melody painfully familiar. So longing and triumphant at the same time I place it somewhere in the vicinity of Rainbow’s The Temple of the King. The track grows denser, but the interplay of acoustic and heavy guitar is an absolute masterpiece of sound, both touching and muscular at the same time. Powerful vocals by MP, who also happens to be the main songwriter, remind of Bathory, Dirk Thurisch of Angel Dust and, gasp, Dio.

It is very remarkable that Colossus has not an ounce of filler. I can’t say that any of the tracks had too long of an intro or dragged unnecessarily. With 20+ minutes of music Fer De Lance created music which can be a perfect soundtrack to historic TV series like, say, Beowulf or Britannia, maybe even History Channel Vikings.