This album marks the first release in over 8 years for this cult metal band. They emerged on the scene in the mid 80's recording such metal classics as Walpurgis Night in 1984 and many others through the 80's and into the 90's. The release of Shogun in 1994 was the last album released by this band, until now. With some of the newcomers in the metal scene in the mid to late 90's recording some of their songs, White Skull doing Tears By The Firelight and Hammerfall recording Ravenlord for it's Glory To The Brave CD single, interest in this band kept growing. Lead vocalist, Andy Muck, was in the process of doing some other work with guitarist Martin Winkler (ex-Nightwolf) when the song Dance With The Witches was written for a very dedicated and die-hard fan of the band. With this song and a few others, the idea of doing another Stormwitch album was born. This band performed this summer at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Wacken, Germany.

From what I've read so far, this album has been met with mixed reviews. One thing that they all missed was the fact that the first track, Man Of Miracles is actually a cover of an old Styx tune from the Man Of Miracles album (around 1973-1974). It's a cool cover and is certainly beefed up with a more Heavy Metal style and lots of guitar. The overall beat and verse structure is a bit different as well but all in all, an interesting interpretation of the song that really works well. Dance With The Witches has a very Hammerfall type of feel and is a speedy Power Metal track. It features some great thematic riffing and is a good mix between an 80's metal sound and a more modern one. Jeanne D'Arc tells the classic Joan Of Arc tale with a great slow, pounding heavy and hypnotic riff style (a bit like Black Sabbath's Heaven And Hell). The track has a very epic feel and uses some nice female backing vocals. There's some narration that I could do without but otherwise, a very interesting and uniquely arranged song, certainly an album highlight. Another stand out track is The Devil's Bride, a tune with a celtic/gypsy/western flair to it reminding me of something Thin Lizzy or Gary Moore might have done. It's an epic storytelling type of song and even uses celtic instruments. I keep thinking about the song Ghost Riders In The Sky by The Outlaws!!

The rest of the tracks range from melodic Power Metal to a more Melodic Metal style and there's a couple of decent power ballads thrown in for good measure. Another atttempt at a storytelling type song is made with The House Of Usher, about the famous tale by Edgar Allan Poe. This time, the results are not up to par with the rest of the songs on this release. There's lots of variety on this album, something I like a lot, and most of the choruses are good and have a certain catchiness to them. Andy Muck has a great "natural" voice for this type of music and really compliments the musical style of the band. One major complaint is that some of the better songs are on the first half of the album. After that, there's a few less than spectacular tracks and the album settles into a more Melodic Metal feel for the second half. I've never heard this band before (although I've heard of them) and the best tracks are the ones where they stick to a more Power Metal sound. I think this album will please long-time fans of this band but may not make any new ones. It has a slightly "dated" sound (not surprisingly from a veteran band). I like this album and with each listen, other tracks are catching my ear. If you're into Melodic Power Metal or Melodic Metal in general and are interested in some of the bands that helped pioneer that type of sound, check this CD out.