• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Upon Haunted Battlefields was the debut from Finland's Thaurorod, a band made up of members of Amberian Dawn, Dotma, and a few others. It's a pretty good example of a new trend in modern Power Metal which focuses on bringing back the old fantasy-laden virtues with a heightened awareness of technicality and speed. It started with Sonata Arctica and continued with bands like Pathfinder, Twilight Force, and, naturally, Dragonforce. Thaurorod did a good job here in that some portions of this remind me of the first couple of Dragonland albums, particularly in the wall of sound that pounds forth through copious keyboards, blasting drums, and slashing guitars, but sadly there isn't a lot you can recall from this when it's over.

I'm not writing it off completely, because the guitar work is stellar, and vocalist Markku Kuikka had a Pasi Rantenen thing going for him, which brings an obvious Thunderstone vibe to things, and when the band actually focus their shit, they produce some killer stuff like "Shadows and Rain", which is a great Power Metal song in the old Mob Rules vein. But the rest of this just goes by in a blur of harpsichords and big choirs with little substance. They would iron out the creases for the follow up, but this one is probably best suited for Power Metal nerds only.