No personnel change makes or breaks a band more than that of a lead singer change. With all due respect to the guitarists, bassists, and drummers of the world, it’s the singer whose voice stands front and center, many times dictating a band’s sound altogether. So when the news came out that Rev Taylor would be leaving Greyhawk in 2024, I must admit I was a bit concerned. Having fronted two tremendous albums in 2020’s Keepers of the Flame and 2024’s Thunderheart, Taylor’s vocals were as integral to Greyhawk’s heavy/power-driven sound as their Priest-esque guitarwork and thundering rhythm section. Needless to say, they were big shoes to fill.
Enter Anthony Corso. Coming off as what can best be described as a vocal doppelganger for Michael Kiske circa 1987, Corso manages to fills Taylor’s shoes quite proficiently on Greyhawk’s third and strongest album to date, Warriors of Greyhawk. Off the heels of an effort that lied largely in the traditional metal/hard rock camp, Warriors sees these, well, warriors, returning back to their power metal roots, melding both US and euro influences into an 11 song display of muscle, valiance, and fire. If your sword wasn’t sharpened beforehand, it sure will be after one listen of this album!
With Warriors, Greyhawk takes the euro power metal leanings farther than ever before with uplifting breakneck ragers like “Land of Ashes”, “Endless Race”, and “Hyperspace”. Balancing both speed and bombast, one can’t help but think of Helloween, Running Wild, Blind Guardian, and countless other titans of yesteryear when faced with Greyhawk’s lethally precise attack of soaring vocals, ultra-melodic guitar leads, and mind-numbing drumming. I’m not sure if the vocals on here are sorely Corso or a group effort during the choir passages, but as a singer myself, I can’t help but tip my hat. Not only does Corso boast the force and range for a band of this nature, but his vocal lines are extremely well thought out.
On the songs that do lean more towards traditional metal (i.e. “Ascension”, “Embers Rise”), even those come off as less straightforward trad metal and more “trad metal through a power metal filter”, similar to what Judas Priest did on their last album, Invincible Shield. And yes, much to the chagrin of many a “trve metal” purist, there are even a couple AOR holdovers harkening back to the Thunderheart era in the form of “Chosen” and “Rise Above”. Admittedly, these melodic curios are less Stallone training montage, more Turbo era Priest, but I appreciate the palette cleanse function they serve amidst the raging power metal that dominates this affair.
For an album that clocks in just shy of 50 minutes, Warriors of Greyhawk sure doesn’t feel like it. This album is a breeze in the best way possible, treating us to top tier power metal and ’80s traditionalism, and the most compelling songs in the Greyhawk canon to date. With Corso at the helm, I look forward to whatever it is this band will accomplish in the future, and if the artwork of these here album is any indication, it’s that no world, universe, or galaxy is safe from the “Warriors of Greyhawk” and their power metal force!
8 out of 10
Label: Cruz del Sur Music
Genre: Power Metal
For fans of: Helloween, Running Wild, Judas Priest
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