Five years is a long time to wait between releases. But here it is finally the release of the new Firewind release, Immortals. With new vocalist Henning Basse who does not sound too different then the departed Apollo Papathanasio, Firewind sounds familiar yet even more focused. Are they trying to relive The Premonition album? No! Are they resting on past laurels? Not at all. Speed is the name of the game early on, with opener, Hands Of Time and We Defy. With the winning formula of speed and melody and harmonies of guitarist Gus G and keyboardist Bob Katsinosis. The highlight track is the epic and bombastic, Battle of Thermopylae story based, Ode to Leonidas(The whole disc is based on that war's second battle). My opinion despite the corniness of the spoken dialogue of the intro, the song gives Basse the chance to he is the new and future voice of Firewind. Gravely at times like Jorn Lande, yet powerful and melodic all at the same time. Another great example of Basse's vocals is the straight ahead rocking Back On The Throne. A simple song highlighted by awesome guitar riffs, strong vocals and an infectious melody that causes involuntary headbanging. Live and Die By The Sword is the first time they slow down and its only for a minute and a half. From there the song builds up into a melodic mid paced song.

Wars Of Ages sounds like it could have worked also on the seminal album, Allegiance. Lady of 1000 Sorrows is a semi-ballad, but is one hell of a ballad. Basse sounds clear and takes full control of the song, and the song has a true majestic feel that is not bombastic or way over the top. The title track brings back the speed of the earlier tracks, short but to the point. Warriors and Saints and closer Rise From The Ashes follow the same pattern while the latter is more melodic and is a little longer in length.

I could not wait to hear this, and while I was not too worried about it, I am happy to see one of the better Power Metal bands back at it. Heaviness, melody, and strong vocals, great musicianship, and of course insane guitar solos courtesy of Gus G, that is Firewind to me.