Of all the bands I’ve reviewed this year, if you told me one of them would be Victory, I’d probably laugh in your face. The German hard and heavy veterans have been largely inactive for the past decade and for good reason. Guitarist/driving force Herman Frank spent the better part of the early 2010s catapulting Accept back to the top of the Teutonic metal pantheon. He also released a string of critically acclaimed solo albums, and even managed to sneak in a thrash side project with Destruction frontman Schmier, Panzer. It seemed likely that Victory would never see the light of day again…until now.
Armed and ready with a brand new lineup, Frank has resurrected Victory from its grave. As much as he loves to lay down that Germanic steel, the hooks, melodies, and grooves of albums like Don’t Get Mad…Get Even (1986) and Culture Killed the Native (1989) were calling Frank back to his roots. This and a renewed interest in the band lead to their first album in a decade, Gods of Tomorrow. Joining Frank on this outing is guitarist Mike Pesin, bassist Malte Bukert, drummer Mike Stein, and vocalist Gianni Pontillo, whose performance is a clinic in fiery and ferocious hard rock vocals.
While listening to Gods of Tomorrow, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to recent Tygers of Pan Tang releases. Sonically speaking, it’s a modern hard rock album done right, thanks to the incorporation of retro melodies and 80s heaviness to even it out. This is heard on the anthemic opener, “Love & Hate” (the best WWE theme song never written), as well as the swaggering “Cut to the Bone” and groove laden “Hold On to Me”. Over 35 years later and Victory can still crank out a memorable hook like it’s nobody’s business. These are only but a few examples.
Despite Frank’s claim that Victory isn’t a metal band, there sure are some metallic moments scattered about. The title track is high speed, old school metal with energetic riffing, powerful vocals, and a lethal double bass drum attack. “Into the Light” is another slice of headbanger heaven, fueled by a rip roaring guitar solo of tubular proportions. Meanwhile, “My Own Desire” and “Rising Force” sound like lost songs from Accept’s Balls to the Wall era, but that’s to be expected as Frank had a large part in those songs’ development. As much as I love all the songs on here, my choice cut is the pop metal power ballad, “Unconditional Love”. If this song were released in 1990, right before glam metal’s untimely demise, it would’ve been a Top 40 hit. I’m hearing a lot of FireHouse, particularly in the chorus, and that’s not a bad thing.
For a band who calls themselves Victory, they sure live up to their name. Gods of Tomorrow is far from a loss. Frank has hit the jackpot with this lineup and collection of songs: A collection so strong that it’d be nothing short of a tragedy if we had to wait another 10 years! I guess you could say us fans have “Hungry Hearts”. You can’t blame us when this is what’s being served.
8 out of 10
Label: AFM Records
Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
For fans of: Krokus, Vandenberg, Tygers of Pan Tang
Super