Bloodbound: War of Dragons (AFM)

Swedish power metal band Bloodbound is back with a new album, their seventh studio offering, titled War of Dragons. As you might guess from the title, the band is just as obsessed with the Game of Thrones series here as they were with their killer 2014 release Stormborn. Well, epic fantasy and power metal have always gone hand-in-hand, and Bloodbound brings the two together quite well.

After trying out different approaches (not to mention different vocalists), Bloodbound finally seemed to find an approach that suited them with Stormborn, so it’s reassuring that War of Dragons sounds quite a bit like that album. It’s gloriously epic and bombastic, gloriously cheesy, and just satisfies the way an old school power metal album should. War of Dragons does seem a bit more keyboard-heavy than Stormborn, with lots of big symphonic arrangements, but that suits the songs here. “Fallen Heroes,” “War of Dragons,” “Starfall” and “Tears of a Dragonheart” are highlights, but at just 45 minutes the album never wears out its welcome.

If you liked the direction Bloodbound went with Stormborn, you will love War of Dragons. And if you love epic, high-speed, ultra-melodic, ultra-cheesy power metal, it doesn’t get much better than this. Bloodbound is like Rhapsody meets Gloryhammer, and that’s definitely not a bad thing. Grab your sword and ride your dragon to victory!

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