Overlorde is a power metal band from the USA founded by guitarist Mark Edwards and bass player John Bunucci – the band releasing two albums to date, ‘Return Of The Snow Giant’ (2004), and ‘Awaken The Fury’ (2023).
For the new album, Edwards and Bunucci are joined by drummer George Janeira and singer/multi-instrumentalist George Tsalikis. American power metal is different to the European style in two major ways, it features a much more muscular sound, and a less high-pitched vocal delivery – as is highly evident on Overlorde‘s sophomore album ‘Awaken The Fury’. Across fifty-six minutes and ten songs, the band batter listeners with a brash barrage of immensely bold and bombastic metal – the title song ‘Awaken The Fury’ hitting like a freight train at full speed! The sound of hard-hitting heavy metal fills the air like a snowstorm, the band striding tall through the power metal genre…
…visiting every corner, nook and cranny as the album unfolds. For the American outfit are not content to just sit in one spot – Overlorde is damn near delivering the ten songs on offer from ten different spots! ‘Fire In The Sky’ is more bombastic than the opener, adopting the classic gallop of traditional “foot on the monitor” heavy metal. Pounding the ground hard as it passes on by, ‘Fire In The Sky’ actually sounds more British than American – and that’s not a bad thing! After all, heavy metal was invented in Britain – remember Black Sabbath? The godfathers of heavy metal are quite rightly recognised as the founders of (in my opinion) the greatest style of music ever invented! And maintaining a little British flavour, ‘The Madness Within’ brings an early eighties vibe to the fore, the band continuing their roam around the power metal genre, keeping every listener hooked with a wide array of styles – and even though the album’s only three songs in, there’s something here for everyone to enjoy. And introducing a little groove and doom metal, Overlorde broadened their musical horizon with ‘Battle At Marathon’, all the while maintaining the infectious melodious streak the album began with. And while variation is a good thing, too much of it and you’re in danger of losing your identity!
Maintaining the previous song’s doom metal feel, ‘Destroy Us All’ ventures into the progressive nature of heavy metal, pummelling listeners with a mid-tempo barrage of hard-hitting rhythms. Overlorde is covering every inch of heavy metal’s incredibly wide territory, attracting an even wider array of listeners, fans and followers, ‘Awaken The Fury’ (the album) awakening everyone with an infectious and varied approach – ‘Gargoyles’ entering the fray as the longest song on offer, clocking in at over seven minutes in length! Featuring more tension and mood than any other song heard so far, the band strolls on weaving a path through the areas of doom, progressive and alternative metal. As I mentioned earlier, there’s something here for everyone to enjoy – a much more hustle and bustle feel rising to the surface as ‘Ashes’ hits hard and kicks harder with an increased level of energy and oomph! Probably the fastest song heard so far, Overlorde adopt the iconic gallop of traditional heavy metal, firmly planting one foot on the monitor and banging the heads of every single metalhead in the world.
Returning the bombastic nature heard earlier, ‘Hammer Strike’ hits hard – and it’s at this stage that I realise the band is more a “heavy metal” band than a “power metal” one. In fact, I probably realised it a few songs ago, but the old-school metaller ‘Hammer Strike’ really solidified my thoughts. Now I don’t mean this in a bad way, hell no – just voicing an opinion on the band’s soundscape using my forty years of listening to all types of metal as a reference. And with a little blues and a touch of groove, ‘Paranoid Delusions’ marches in and wanders on, swinging this way and that, roaming through so many territories it’s impossible to pigeon-hole it to just one, reminding me of something I said earlier, “and while variation is a good thing, too much of it and you’re in danger of losing your identity”. I don’t think Overlorde have actually lost their identity though, they’re a metal band through and through willing to explore every angle of the metal spectrum to deliver a varied and thought-provoking listen. And bringing the album to a close, is the highly head bang-able and fast-paced ‘Migraine’, vigorously banging the heads of listeners one final time – the familiar and very warm sound of traditional heavy metal rising high in the air.
Overall, a varied array of songs from every corner of the heavy metal genre, ‘Awaken The Fury’ offers something for everyone.
TRACKLIST
Awaken The Fury
Fire In The Sky
The Madness Within
Battle At Marathon
Destroy Us All
Gargoyles
Ashes
Hammer Strike
Paranoid Delusions
Migraine
Overlorde: Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: No Remorse Records
Category: Album
Country: USA
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
