Before reviewing the new Eternal Champion album, I had to revisit their 2016 debut, The Armor of Ire. I vividly remember its release because overnight, everyone and their mom were talking about Eternal Champion. Many hailed it as the album of the year. In the years since, some even hail it as the album of the decade. I wouldn’t go that far, but I do remember enjoying it very much upon its release. I listened to it for about a month, but hadn’t really checked it out since. I say this even after I saw the band deliver a memorable set right before the Kings of the Dead themselves, Cirith Ungol, at last year’s Legions of Metal fest.
So here we are in 2020. The Armor of Ire just so happens to hold up as well as it did in 2016. Their newly released second album, Ravening Iron, serves as a fitting successor. All of the elements that made Ire an instant classic are amplified and multiplied on Ravening Iron. Before I examine the songs themselves, I have to give a big shoutout to drummer and producer Arthur Rizk. I’m not sure how he does it, but this album sounds absolutely massive. I imagine each member recording their parts atop their own individual mountains, using only the surrounding environment as natural reverb.
Ravening Iron consists of two types of metal. The first is a slow, doomy brand of epic metal that recalls Cirith Ungol. While listening to “A Face in the Glare” and “Skullseeker”, I could almost envision a larger than life warrior, wandering through a field of blood, his sword dragging against the ground underneath him. While the riffs aren’t nearly as epic as Ungol’s (There was only one Jerry Fogle.), they’re powerful in their own right, keeping the Ungolian torch lit. And now that I think of it, I better copyright that word before every other internet metal journalist co-opts it.
In between these war dirges are war hymns. You really didn’t think our warrior, with his lust for battle, wasn’t going to see some action, did you? The title track, “War at the Edge of the End”, and my choice cut, “Worms of the Earth”, are dramatic, uptempo power metal songs, cut from the cloth of Manilla Road. The lead guitarwork is dramatic, yet melodic. It may sound like an odd hybrid, but imagine Mercyful Fate meets Queen. Speaking of Queen, am I the only one who hears the intro to “Tie Your Mother Down” on “Coward’s Keep”? Anyone? Bueller? Frye?
The band saves the doomiest for last with “Banners of Arhai”. Ever wonder what Dio era Sabbath would sound like with Ozzy on vocals? Look no further than this song. It’s the perfect closer for an album of songs that explore the spectrum of all things doomy and epic.
I don’t hear “album of the year” in Ravening Iron, but I do hear an album that will appease just about every fan of the throwback metal sound. The songwriting, musicianship, and production are over the top and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Raise your swords in jubilation! The Eternal Champion has reincarnated to save us from all that is false.
7 out of 10
Label: No Remorse Records
Genre: Epic Heavy Metal
For fans of: Cirith Ungol, Manilla Road, Manowar