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Back when Finland's Twilight Guardians recorded Tales Of The Brave it wasn't frowned upon to produce a substandard product, especially in the Power Metal scene. A lot of bands that went on to record great albums began with debuts like this, and it gives the material a certain naïve charm. Those who have heard Afterworld, another Finnish act suffering from Stratovarius Fever, will know what to expect here: double kick drums, Casio-esque keyboards, sloppy neo-classical guitars, poor but enthusiastic vocals, and lyrics that straddle a mythological and religious boundary. Vocalist Vesa Virtanen sounds even stuffier on here than on the follow up, which you can hear shades of during "Just Let Me". There is real heart in this album, and when listened to with a sympathetic ear, Tales Of The Brave doesn't sound all that bad.

Wasteland, the band's sophomore effort, is an album I return to time and again, and if you've yet to experience Twilight Guardians, that would be the record to pick. However, if you're interested in acquiring a lost item from the Power Metal mailbag, hunting down a copy of this, even if just for tracks with names such as "Land Of The Kings" and "Gods Of Time", might not be a bad idea.