March 2023 Feature Release - The Guardians Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Guardians has been nominated by myself in Xephyr's absence. It's the highly regarded 2004 "Mighty & Superior" E.P. from epic West Yorkshire heavy metal outfit Isen Torr. I've been meaning to check this one out for a while now as it's built up a cult status of sorts over the years & is often compared with the US power metal movement. It's only a short 17 minute affair too so it won't require too much of your patience. See what you think of it.

https://metal.academy/releases/4499

Brilliant, I love this record and have it on CD. It is a Rich Walker side project of Solstice with Twisted Tower Dire's Tony Taylor on vocals, so it is EPIC, as you would expect. I've never written up a review so cheers for nominating it, Daniel and motivating me to do so!

Isen Torr are a side project of Solstice mainman Rich Walker and the Mighty & Superior EP is, sadly, their only release to date. Unsurprisingly, they still carry a lot of Solstice's DNA and with Walker's guitar work having a distinctive sound it would be hard to distance themselves too much from the doomier outfit without a complete change of musical style. The two tracks on here, Mighty & Superior and The Theomachist were actually written for Solstice's follow up to the imperious New Dark Age album, but Solstice were inactive at the time so Walker started Isen Torr with the intention of releasing three EPs, but the other two never materialised and Walker disbanded the outfit after the death of vocalist Tony Taylor in a motorcycle accident in 2010.

These two tracks of epic heavy metal are really just Solstice material with a faster, Iron Maiden-esque galloping tempo and more expansive lead work. The lyrics mine the same seam as Solstice, with reference to Dark Age, Anglo-Saxon England and it's warriors and battles. Tony Taylor, who was vocalist with Twisted Tower Dire until 2006, puts in a fine performance in front of the mike with his power metal style suiting the material very well. Walker pretty much lets himself go with a couple of killer riffs and solos being wielded like a sharpened battle axe blade, left, right and centre. There is more similarity with the material on 2018's Solstice full-length, White Horse Hill, than the preceding album and as such, Mighty & Superior serves as a pointer to where Walker wanted to take his music going forward.

If you like to revel in the sometimes OTT nature of heavy metal and it's larger-than-life expression of power and glory then these two tracks are a great pointer to the potential of a sadly curtailed outfit who dealt in that OTT currency without ever sounding overly cheesy, but stayed just the right side of the line whilst most definitely "playing on ten".

(Strong)4/5

I have to admit that I did a bit of a double take when I saw the release date attached to this fairly underground E.P. as it certainly doesn't sound like it was released post-2000. In fact, if you came into it blind you'd probably suggest that it was released in the second half of the 1980's & I'm fairly sure that was the intention too as the production & performances have had all of their rough edges left in place in order to give Isen Torr a significant bump in authenticity & credibility. The performances on this 17 minute affair aren't wonderful with the lead guitar work lacking in subtlety & the Queensryche style operatic vocals being a little pitchy at times but these things also give "Mighty & Superior" an endearing quality & I can see why someone like Sonny might find it quite relatable, especially when combined with the links to a highly regarded member of the epic doom metal community in Solstice.

This is certainly one epic as fuck release, isn't it? So much so that it leaves me baffled as to how Isen Torr have avoided the power metal tag. There's obviously a crap-tonne of Iron Maiden worship going on here in the galloping rhythms & guitar harmonies but the consistently high tempos, epic atmosphere & metal-for-metals-sake attitude sit further towards power metal than they do traditional heavy metal in my opinion so there'll be a Hall of Judgement entry coming up. The consistent focus on epic lead guitar lines is quite unique & I feel that this element is probably Isen Torr's calling card because it sounds quite fresh even if the lead guitarists vibrato leaves a bit to be desired. I've quite enjoyed this brief hint at what could have been to be honest &, despite it's UK heritage, feel that it will very likely appeal to fans of US power metal acts like Slough Feg, Manilla Road & Cirith Ungol. It's the very definition of a 3.5/5 release in that I find myself getting a consistent level of enjoyment out of it without ever feeling like it'll become a record that I'll be returning to again & again.

3.5/5

Nice review Morpheus. It's good to have you back onboard.

Try Solstice's New Dark Age if you've never heard it Morpheus as that is guitarist Rich Walker's main band and, although more epic doom than Isen Torr, they have a lot in common.