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4 years has passed since the release of "Hordes of the Brave" and now Iron Mask is back with their third album "Shadow of the Red Baron". From start their style is still very recognizable. Main man in the band is still Dushan Petrossi - this guitar virtuoso is responsible for the song writing and production as well. Still Valhalla Jr's (Goetz Mohre) vocals appear on most of the tracks, he sounds like a combination of David Coverdale and Graham Bonnet. On the track "Dreams" we have the pleasure of Oliver Hartmann singing and that isn't so strange because the majority of the songs are musically very similar to Olivers ex-band At Vance.
Like At Vance, Iron Mask delivers melodic neo-classical power metal with symphonic influences and traditional metal touches. In fact you could say that if you like At Vance, you will love Iron Mask too. New permanent drummer Erik Stout (Reign of Terror) is of course a good match. The bass is still done by Vassili Moltchanov and new keyboardist Andreas Lindahl (Narnia/The Murder of My Sweet) completes the line-up. The relevance of bands like this (they lack originality) stands or falls with good written songs, sung by a good vocalist. And one thing is for sure Iron Mask has succeeded in both.
There is no point in saying something about the separate songs, because they are all at the same level. Besides the regular epic lyrical stories, the lyrical themes of several other songs were affected by the long illness and passing away of Dushans mother... The titles "Forever in the Dark", "My Angel Is Gone" and "We Will Meet Again" speak for itself.
A nice album, for fans of Yngwie, Magic Kingdom and At Vance.
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