Neptune is a heavy metal band from Sweden originally forming during the early eighties, releasing several demo’s before disbanding a few years later. Reforming many years later, the band have to date released two E.P.’s – ‘The Last Flight Of The Rafven’ (2019) and ‘The Rebirth’ (2022), and two albums – ‘Northern Steel’ (2020) and ‘End Of Time’ (2024).
Prolific across the last five years, Swedish metallers Neptune return with the band’s new album ‘End Of Time’, featuring more styles of metal than you can shake the proverbial stick at! From melodic metal to symphonic, anthemic to traditional, and everything in between, Neptune is on a roll – a rollercoaster driven by immense levels of energy and power, ‘Metal Hearts’ opening the album with an almighty anthemic thunder stomp! The kinda thunder stomp that the likes of Manowar, Sabaton and Saxon are renowned for, the bombastic energy oozing outta ‘Metal Hearts’ enough to power Sweden for the foreseeable future!
And from thunder to all-out pace, ‘Brightest Steel’ roars through the gears to storm off at high velocity, the band blending the sound of classic European power metal with their traditional metal roots. The level of headbang ability has just shot through the roof here, Neptune sending every mosh pit around the world into fucking overdrive – the title song (I presume) ‘The End Of Time’ raising majesty to new heights. The mid-tempo swagger is incredible, the band displaying a little Dio elegance here too, the heavy, thundering, lumbering stroll shuddering the ground as the Swedish metallers march forth with shoulders back and head held high. The opening threesome has come out of three different corners of the heavy metal genre, I wonder how many other corners the band will visit before the album’s over! Many more is both the short and long answer, ‘Revenge’ slowing the tempo even more! But increasing the thunder tenfold – Neptune blowing a hole right through the centre of the Earth with the immense force oozing outta ‘Revenge’ – many listeners ducking and diving for cover as they think their walls are collapsing around them! Yes, readers, the fear is that real for the oomph is fucking tremendous!
The array of styles on the show is mind-boggling, yet the common thread linking all the songs together is the band’s sensational elegance, ‘Motherland’ striding tall and proud right through the heart of metal territory, the infectious and catchy nature stronger now than at any other time so far. Neptune has really pulled out all the stops for this album, parading a sound ten times greater than ‘Northern Steel’ – just what the hell have the band been eating and drinking for the last couple of years to give ’em so much energy and drive? ‘Cause I want some as I need more energy and drive now than ever before – I’m getting old you see, and it’s getting much harder to get up and out of bed every day! But with bands like Neptune delivering great heavy metal like this, I’ll always have a reason to get up outta bed to write reviews, the band marching on with the highest melodious intent of any song heard so far, ‘Sun Goes Down’ a sparkling example of just how fucking infectious melodic heavy metal should be! Take note all you young guns, this is the bar right here you need to be aiming for. Now the title ‘Nepturion’ could mean one of two things – a native from the planet Neptune, or a dedicated follower of the band Neptune, just like Maidenites, Metallifans, and Helloweeners! Either way, ‘Nepturion’ shudders the ground with a higher intensity than heard earlier, the knee-trembling main guitar riff causing many listeners to wet themselves, the band hitting the sweet spot with precision accuracy!
And for a song entitled ‘Power’, you’d take an educated guess that it’d come blazing at you firing on all fucking cylinders – I know Helloween’s, Manowar’s, Ravage’s, The Almighty’s, and Toxik’s “power” titled songs did! And while Neptune‘s ‘Power’ doesn’t quite have the blistering pace of Helloween or Toxik, the energy and oomph is next level – the Swedish metallers hitting much harder than at any other time on ‘End Of Time’. And what I said earlier about the band blowing a hole through the centre of the Earth with an immense level of force, well the band have just increased that level and is now blowing planet Earth to fucking bits! So hold on tight readers this could get rocky – ‘Highlands’ lurching forth with a massive injection of hard rock, the band standing in the gap between the genres of metal and rock. Attracting fans of both metal and rock to the band’s soundscape, Neptune is widening their musical horizons further than ever before, ‘End Of Time’ coming to a close with the anthemic hymn ‘Northern Warriors’. Displaying a serene swagger not seen or heard previously, the band rabble rouse listeners with an enchanting stroll to round off a highly engaging album.
Overall, a varied aural assault featuring a multitude of metal styles, ‘End Of Time’ is infectious, majestic and elegant.
TRACKLIST
Metal Hearts
Brightest Steel
The End Of Time
Revenge
Motherland
Sun Goes Down
Nepturion
Power
Highlands
Northern Warriors
Neptune: Facebook
Release Year: 2024
Label: Pride & Joy Music
Category: Album
Country: Sweden
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
