Kicking off the CD is the song “Trow’s Kind”, which from the very first second puts you back in medieval times. The ever enchanting melodies we could find on the first two Elvenking albums are back and feel perfectly familiar. Though I used to be somewhat annoyed every now and then by the vocals on the second album “Wyrd”, that is no longer the case as the original vocalist is back and it sure hasn’t hurt Elvenking. The first song perfectly combines the familiar folk tunes with a catchy chorus and epic parts between. The second song “Swallowtail” starts off somewhat peculiar but after a few seconds the Elvenking “feel” simply returns in the form of another well composed song. Though this song is not so good as the first it’s certainly not bad and the solo’s in this song are warmly welcomed. The titlesong of this album begins rather good, with some epic guitar parts, followed by a loud bass. Somehow this song reminds me a bit of an Edguy song. This however with a typical Elvenking twist to it. Changing between heavy distorted guitar parts and clean parts where only screaming vocals can be heard, this song gives the variety rating of this album another boost. Especially with the clean violin parts topping things off.

The next song “The Wanderer” was already put available on the Elvenking site for all their fans to check out. And it surely wasn’t an odd choice. The acoustic guitar parts with the clean vocals simply sound marvellous in this song. This and another catchy chorus makes it one of the best songs of the album, so make sure you check out this song at their official web site, if this review doesn’t persuade you into buying the whole album. “March of Fools” is up next, again the familiar tunes are present, and all in all this song nicely follows in the footsteps of the first song “Trow’s Kind”, not one to miss out on however. On of the most peculiar, though welcomed songs on the album must be “On the Morning Dew”, which is an acoustic song, which solely consists of acoustic guitars, flutes and vocals. This song is in one word amazing. The guitar work follows the vocal part perfectly and it all adds up to an amazing whole. Of the following songs the only things extremely notable are the songs “Rouse Your Dream” and “Neverending Nights”, which again add another dimension to the CD with their epic sound, which only once reminds me off the Italian Power-Metallers Rhapsody. Both songs are also my personal favourites together with the titlesong.

All in all Elvenking have put together yet another strong album, and in my opinion their most powerful yet. Coming back to the question I asked at the beginning of the review. Have they crossed the “3rd-album line”? Most definitely yes!

written by Roy Boeren

Playing time: 51.46