How many metal bands named Valkyria are out there? If you count Valkyrie and Valkyrja, probably a dozen. Let’s not debate proper spelling, but there is just something metal in these Norse mythological figures, the high flying females deciding who from the host of slain warriors is to go to Valhalla.

Spaniards from Bilbao (Basque country) aren’t immune to the moniker choosing bug, and deliver melodic power metal under this well-worn, many times unfurled banner. What makes Tierra Hostil stand out then is frankly its youthful enthusiasm and energy which is oozing from every melody, every clicking riff and every flying solo beginning with the opener Codigo de Honor. Instead of singing in what probably would have been accented English, Valkyria chooses to do it in Spanish throughout, and Yeray Hernandez’s high voice sounds, dare I say it, sexy. Muscular, but a little sterile, production is par for the course, and lengthy guitar hero inserts remind me of Vhaldemar, another Spanish band on Fighter Records, the label hard at work to bring you every quality heavy metal collective from the Iberian Peninsula. The choruses here are whirling even if the verse is midpace (Abatido), and romanticism is prevalent as it should be when the natives hail from the land of Don Quixote (title track). Heroic tunes grow more heroic by the minute (Vida Eterna), there is ethnic progressive angle in Tuareg, soaring chorus in Identidad Perdida builds off of energetic galloping verse – all attributes of melodic power metal are on display in Tierra Hostil, including largely sunny outlook, as in Ecos del Manana, and slower quasi-balladic Selenelion is present, but thankfully it isn’t too sappy.

Tierra Hostil may not surprise much, and probably won’t win Album of the Year accolades, but it is quality power metal without unnecessary frills.