PALANTIR
“LOST BETWEEN DIMENSIONS”
Album Review By Iron Mathew

9/10

Palantir are a power metal band from Sweden forming in 2012, releasing their debut album in 2017.

Palantir are the latest in a long line of bands to have emerged from Sweden following a path set by hard rock band Europe in the early eighties, Along this path have come many other bands, such as Treat, Shotgun Messiah and HammerFall. ‘To Valhalla’ opens the bands debut album with an atmospheric, tension filled, crescendo building intro, before launching into a bombastic barrage of riffs and rhythms. Rocking very hard ‘To Valhalla’ is a cracking slab of melodic power metal. The band quickly capitalise on this catchy opening foray by picking up the pace and galloping full tilt with ‘Escaping Reality’. Flying along with a speed metal edge, ‘Escaping Reality’ is infectious and catchy. A sing a long style chorus to boot, and after just two songs Palantir have done plenty to grab the listeners attention as they forge onward with ‘War Of The Worlds’. Adopting a darker and heavier feel, ‘War Of The Worlds’ strides majestically across the land. The addictive rhythms will have you smiling and foot tapping hard from start to finish. Delivering ten songs across fifty four minutes, ‘Lost Between Dimensions’ is very good value.

Sub one minute guitar instrumental ‘Dark Crystal’ serves as a lead into the heavy foot stomping ‘Revival’. Throughout the album, keyboards and guitars are working in perfect harmony, none more so than on ‘Revival’. Delivered at a slower pace than anything that has gone before, ‘Revival’ is melodic hard rock of the mid tempo variety. Palantir do follow the formulaic “sing a long” style chorus lines, which is great for the crowd in a live arena. ‘Warriors Of The Sun’ injects a little bit of the classic buzzing guitar sound from the evolutionary NWOBHM movement from the eighties, and marches on with purpose and intent. Anthemic in style with a very heavy foot stomping rhythm, ‘Warriors Of The Sun’ is one of the heaviest sounding songs on the album. A hymn like opening gives life to ‘Tragicomedy’ as it launches into a blistering gallop, stepping into the speed metal genre. Coasting along like a freight train on a deadline, ‘Tragicomedy’ owes its galloping melodic vibe to the traditional sound of European power metal.

Keeping the pace and intensity levels high, ‘Centre Of My Life’ is a superb romp of “foot on the monitor” style heavy metal. The most infectious of all the songs on offer, ‘Centre Of My Life’ is catchy, sing a long-able and above all a bloody good song. Palantir are impressing with their debut release, delivering a blend of hard rock and heavy metal, fused with a huge amount of the melodic and a massive dash of catchiness. With only two songs remaining, there has been no hint of a ballad, which is usually customary these days on hard rock albums. ‘Kings And Queens’ keeps the bustling, bombastic nature of the album in full swing. Chopping guitars and a rugged rhythm give ‘Kings And Queens’ a mildly aggressive layer as it swaggers on to a conclusion. The title song ‘Lost Between Dimensions’ brings the album to a glorious end, with over ten minutes of epic style heavy metal. From the effects laden intro, to the excellent keyboard passage that leads to the explosion of guitars and drums, ‘Lost Between Dimensions’ (the song) is thunderous and full of energy. Get those necks moving and head bang hard to a bullish and brash end to a very impressive debut album.

Overall, a catchy and infectious album of melodic hard rock and heavy metal, with influences from the NWOBHM and speed metal genres.

TRACKLIST

To Valhalla
Escaping Reality
War Of The Worlds
The Dark Crystal
Revival
Warriors Of The Sun
Tragicomedy
Centre Of My Life
Kings And Queens
Lost Between Dimensions

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