An Italian band with a name derived from Norse mythology. Interesting. This effort, not so much. The band has created an album that draws elements from far too many genres of metal and mashes them all together in what is an incoherent mess at times. Their styles can change rapidly and often confuse the music while confounding the listener.

There are aspects of Finnish style keyboards, Manowar-inspired riffs, power metal drumming and Viking choruses. While this could theoretically be combined to make great albums, this band cannot hammer out arrangements worth listening to despite good ingredients. A few tracks randomly switch between sounding like Rammstein and Bathory with touches of Manowar. A jumble is off putting since the elements are not harmonized. The production is far from the worst that I’ve ever heard but seems shallow in away. The sounds aren’t as crisp and sharp as one would expect. It is plainly obvious when you hear the vocals. Giacomo Mercaldo has a passable voice, but he sounds ridiculous on this album. He sounds similar to Moonspell's Fernando Ribiero at times but doesn't have nearly as much command over his range or his diction as the Portuguese master. Contrasted with the Viking chorus backing vocals, he really cannot compare to his backing tracks. His vocals really annoyed me and are the aspect of the recording I really could not appreciate at all. They are competent musicians otherwise and have a few good guitar solos thrown in. However, the solos should be restricted to the guitars since the keyboard solos are basic, derivative and add next to nothing to the album.

"Cold" is a ballad that could have been easily left out. It adds nothing to the album and irritated me every time I heard it. You cannot have a ballad with a singer that possesses an annoying voice. I felt like taking a fork and puncturing my eardrum whenever he tried to sing on this track. "Black Heaven" is another ballad which alas falls into the exact same traps. Vocals that are even more overblown and uninspired guitar work flood this track. As a contrast, the album closer "Holy Night" rocks out despite the vocals. It has the most memorable riff and the band actually sounds like a group of harmonious musicians. Each song attempts to have some complexity behind it but the end result is shallow and annoying. Heimdall could greatly improve their sound by stripping it down, getting back to basics and playing straight up true metal. It certainly sounds as though they are capable of doing this and while it would modify their sound, it would be for the best.

It’s sad that the thing I most enjoyed about this album was the Uruk Hai dude on the album cover.