Herman Frank: Loyal to None

Originally released in 2009, Loyal to None is the debut solo album from guitarist Herman Frank (Victory, ex-Accept). The guitarist has been a huge force in the German heavy metal scene since the early 1980s, but it wasn’t until recently that he launched a proper solo group. For this project Frank is joined by Victory singer Jioti Parcharidis, former Running Wild bassist Peter Pichl and former Accept drummer Stefan Schwarzmann.

Even if you’ve followed Herman Frank’s career through Accept, Victory, Moon’Doc and the like, Loyal to None may still surprise you. This is an absolute monster of a traditional heavy metal album. It has the Accept-style riffs, melodies worthy of a power metal album and an absolutely huge vocal performance. Parcharidis sounds at times like Russell Allen, Rick Altzi and Ronnie James Dio. Imagine an Accept album with Dio on vocals. Songs like “7 Stars,” “Down to the Valley” and “Bastard Legion” hit like a sledgehammer, and “Kill the King” and “Metal Gods,” while not covers, still have that great classic metal electricity.

Had Loyal to None been released on a higher profile label it might have made a huge impact. This is one of those massive sounding, hugely entertaining albums that capture everything you love about classic heavy metal. Accept got a lot of praise – and deservedly so – for their 2010 comeback Blood of the Nations, but Loyal to None is just as impressive. It’s a must have for fans of Frank’s earlier work in Accept and Victory, but will also amaze fans of hard-hitting melodic heavy metal bands like Masterplan, Symphony X, Astral Doors, Running Wild and Iron Savior.

Reissue Notes: Now that Frank has signed to the AFM label for the release of his latest album The Devil Rides Out, AFM has reissued the first two Herman Frank albums. They’re recent enough not to need remastering, but they did add the bonus track “Sky Trooper” that was previously only available on the Japanese import version of Loyal to None. It’s probably not worth upgrading if you have an earlier version, but if you missed the original indie release, this AFM reissue will come in very handy.

frank1