UNCHAINED HORIZON
“Fallen Kingdom”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Unchained Horizon are a heavy metal band from Germany formed in 2009 releasing a trilogy of E.P.’s – ‘Chain Reaction’ (2011), ‘Shattered Land’ (2012), and ‘Coming Home’ (2013) – before their debut album ‘Last Man Standing’ emerged in 2018. Germany is well known for its metal heritage, with Unchained Horizon not letting the country down. The bands sophomore album ‘Fallen Kingdom’ (released in 2022) blends the European style of power metal with their traditional heavy metal roots, delivering nine heavy hitting and infectious “foot on the monitor” romps…

…romps that are clearly inspired by the legendary NWOBHM sound and iconic British bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Saxon. The new album gets underway with the one minute rabble rousing call to arms ‘Warriors Speech’, before exploding into life with ‘Stranger’ – a fast paced and highly infectious gallop of all out melodious metal. The power and pace of ‘Stranger’ is incredible, the classic sound of traditional metal filling the air like a cloud of billowing smoke! What a barnstormer of an opening salvo – followed by the six minutes plus ‘Beneath The Ice’. And a short mellow intro that legends Iron Maiden would be proud of. But then the rest is all Unchained Horizon – ‘Beneath The Ice’ stretching its legs and hurtling across the land like a cheetah at full pace! The opening double has been the stuff of head bangers dreams, with every metal head rocking their heads back and forth in rhythmic unison.

Clocking in at under three minutes in length, ‘Lost Worlds’ is the shortest song on offer, and opens with another Iron Maiden-esque passage. Full of atmosphere and an epic edge, ‘Lost Worlds’ is a very infectious instrumental, as it changes gear and races off at top speed. ‘The Marksman’ glides into view, and builds the tension with a truly magnificent intro, and then storms off at high velocity – the classic gallop of traditional metal in full flight. A pace changing thunderstorm, ‘The Marksman’ maintains the albums roaring momentum. A second six minutes plus song graces the album – ‘Through The Storm’ floating in on crashing waves, adopting a mid tempo pace and slightly more menace than has been heard so far. More akin to the power driven metal of Judas Priest than the majestic ‘Maiden, ‘Through The Storm’ is a pounding slab of heavy metal to get the adrenaline flowing and fists punching the air in sheer delight.

With its mellow and serene intro, ‘Fallen Kingdom’ (the song) gently arrives, building and building to a more rock styled flow than metal. The lightest, or softest, song on offer, ‘Fallen Kingdom’ (the song) does dip its toes into the heavy metal genre, as it continues to stride on with hints of the progressive nature of metal. ‘Beast Within’ returns the Iron Maiden intro influence once more, building the atmosphere to a crescendo, eventually lurching head long into a traditional metal gallop. And the classic sound of the NWOBHM rises high in the air – the worlds metal heads once again banging their heads furiously. The final song ‘Bridge To Nowhere’ chimes in as the fastest song on offer, screaming by at top speed, grabbing your full attention from the off! Full of mild aggression and menace, ‘Bridge To Nowhere’ is a barn storming end to an album full of power and passion.

Overall, crammed with traditional heavy metal, ‘Fallen Kingdom’ is infectious, addictive, and head bang-able.

TRACKLIST

Warriors Speech
Stranger
Beneath The Ice
Lost Words
The Marksman
Through The Storm
Fallen Kingdom
Beast Within
Bridge To Nowhere

https://www.unchained-horizon.com/
https://www.facebook.com/UnchainedHorizon/

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