An entertaining set of songs featuring a varied selection of moods and tempos.

Although this album has actually been available since October 2016, it's only recently surfaced here at FW Towers, but better late than never. We don't like anything to pass us by, especially when it's this good, though some of the Power Metal aficionados amongst you may well already have this in your collection.

It's extremely difficult to do anything new and adventurous within the realms of Power Metal, so all you can do is ensure you do it well. 'Awakening' is the fourth offering from the Greek quintet Wardrum and it's a bit of a belter; technically brilliant with a definite Progressive edge, while not straying too far from its Heavy Metal roots so as not to alienate those yearning for something in a more traditional vein.

Avoiding keyboards in favour of a twin-guitar delivery, all the other usual elements are here; soaring and memorable melodies, compelling lyrics, scything guitar riffs, scintillating yet beautifully melodic solos, thunderous drumming (while avoiding extreme over-use of the double-kick aspect) and powerhouse vocals. Yannis Papadopoulos is the man entrusted with leading the charge, his higher-pitched Rob Halford-ish vocal delivery giving Wardrum a definite Judas Priest influence, though when he reins it in the timbre of his voice is more akin to Dream Theater's James LaBrie, as demonstrated on the ballad-orientated first section of 'On Skies Of Grey'.

An entertaining set of songs featuring a varied selection of moods and tempos, it's impressive that the song-writing duties are evenly split, with both guitarist Kosta Vreto and drummer Stergios Kourou contributing six songs each, yet still managing to maintain a consistent style and quality throughout.

Ant Heeks