Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Dragonland - Holy War (2002)

Power metal cheese is like regular cheese. You loved it a lot when you were younger, but as you get older, you can get sick from having too much shoved down your throat. In saying that, I probably wouldn't have gotten into the more symphonic side of power metal without an accidental discovery via this band. Orchestral keys and guitar fury slam through clay-cracking bass and pounding drums, alongside the sweet vocals of Jonas Heidgert, as if the entire band is a dragon. A Rhapsody (of Fire)-influenced dragon!

Fixing some mistakes from their debut, their second album Holy War has energetic progression that is a d*mn stunner. Heidgert stands out as another amazing vocalist in the power metal league. His unique delivery is out of this world.

The orchestral intro "Hundred Years Have Passed" is a little longer than it should've been, but it reminds me of the different Elder Scrolls theme songs. You end up warping into the medieval fantasy realm that is Dragonland. The fast heavy greatness begins with "Majesty of the Mithril Mountains". I barely have anything to say about the majestic glory of that track. "Through Elven Woods and Dwarven Mines" creeps in with ominous synths then knocks you fine blazing guitar riffing. You'll definitely wanna explore the Elven Woods of Tirannwn and the Dwarven Mines near the Ice Mountain in RuneScape with that crystalline song as your soundtrack. The glorious title track begins with organ paving the way to metal fury and impressive vocals. That's the song that made me discover this band in a video that was wrongly credited to DragonForce as the band.

A slower mid-paced but still epic track "Calm Before the Storm" adds some progressive brilliance that the band would fulfill more in later albums. "The Return to the Ivory Plains" continues the battle-ready power of that other "Ivory Plains" song and has an Iron Maiden-ish galloping beat. "Forever Walking Alone" is the ballad here. Now I'm pretty picky about ballads. And although it is quite beautiful and emotional, I find to be another slow love song that is worth skipping. But just when I was gonna put it down as a stinker, the song speeds up in the drums, the distorted guitars return, and Heidgert's vocal strength is regained. Not the best song, but much better than "A Last Farewell".

"Blazing Hate" has more of that blazing power metal speed. Same with "A Thousand Points of Light" that has the last of the mighty power unleashed for the standard edition. "One With All" is a little too long for an orchestral outro, but it's a nice uplifting way out. The Japanese edition comes with 3 bonus tracks, the first of which is an upbeat cover of Limahl's "The Neverending Story" from that fantasy film. "Allemande" and "So Many Questions" are just useless acoustic interludes with not much to say there.

Dragonland's sophomore album is a more enjoyable improvement from their debut, performing their sound with fantasy pride and not too much cheesiness. I miss out on my youthful days of loving this band to the max, but I need to stay true to my mature evolution. Nonetheless, Dragonland have done well in pleasing fans of power metal!

Favorites: "Majesty of the Mithril Mountains", "Holy War", "Calm Before the Storm", "The Return to the Ivory Plains", "A Thousand Points of Light", "The Neverending Story"