HORIZONS EDGE
“LET THE SHOW GO ON”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Horizons Edge are a power metal band from Australia formed in 2012, releasing their self titled debut album in 2014. The bands sophomore album ‘Heavenly Realms’, followed in 2015 with ‘Let The Show Go On’, the bands third album, a 2019 release.

Blending the classic sound of power metal with symphonic style vocals, Horizons Edge deliver a hard hitting and infectious one hour of melodic metal. ‘A New Day Will Dawn’ launches the album in a furious and feisty vein, speeding along at a high tempo with urgency and energy levels right off the scale. The fabulously toned and athletic lead singer Kat Sproule has an immense and powerful voice, her vocals soaring high as ‘A New Day Will Dawn’ thunders on by. And the thunder just gets more intense as ‘Farewell’ scurries into sight and positively shakes the ground it runs on. This is heavy power metal of the heaviest nature before it drops into the heavy metal genre. A hard hitting incendiary opening double, ignites more fireworks as ‘Black Hole’ pummels and pounds the senses with heavyweight boxing champion style uppercuts and haymakers. Prepare for a bruising, as Horizons Edge hit you hard with everything in their arsenal. The extremely epic and glorious power ballad ‘Let The Show Go On’, featuring Primal Fear singer Ralf Scheepers, is a majestic mix of balladry and melodic hard rock, with sublime keyboards adding that symphonic edge.

An awesome orchestral style intro breathes life into the heaviest hitting song heard so far. ‘Surrender’ is a pulsating, powerfully melodic mid tempo swagger. Soaring vocals rising high into the atmosphere, and I defy anyone not to flinch as the pounding rhythm slaps you hard around the head. Romping along at a high tempo, ‘Use Me’ is an energetic slice of European styled power metal, a “foot on the monitor” moment that will make you smile and nod your head hard. So infectious, ‘Use Me’ is a major highlight on the album. Horizons Edge include a cover song, and as a teenager growing up in the eighties, I remember this song very well. The 1984 Bonnie Tyler classic ‘Holding Out For A Hero’ is the cover, and I’m sad to say that Horizons Edge version just doesn’t have the same impact of the original, the oomph, or the immediate “prick your ears up” feel.

‘Masks’ is a one minute keyboard led instrumental, leading into the symphonic power ballad ‘In Your Eyes’, with a superb vocal performance by Kat. Her vocals soaring higher than ever, this time rising high into the stratosphere. Dashes of industrial, gothic and grunge are mixed into the Horizons Edge sound as ‘Demons’ creeps into life, becoming a thunderous, highly energetic power metal fury as it gets going. Switching the pace between slow to mid and mid to high, ‘Demons’ is a departure from what you’d expect from Horizons Edge and shows they have no worries about stretching the boundaries of their musical spectrum. Aha, there’s the bands signature sound… ‘In A Moment’ is high paced, full of tempo and energy and is probably the most head bang able song on offer, as well as the heaviest. And amazingly, and I can’t quite believe it, the final song is on its way…the hour play time is almost up. It’s a sign of a good album when you lose track of time as you get lost in the music. The final song is also the longest, chiming in at over seven minutes in length, ‘Bring me Home’ is atmospheric and stands tall in so many genres it’d be difficult to list them all, but topping the list would be the symphonic, glory, epic and power metal genres. ‘Bring Me Home’ is an emphatic and climactic end to an album of pulsating heavy metal.

Overall, a thunderous and infectious power metal come symphonic metal come heavy metal journey of infectiousness and memorability.

TRACKLIST

A New Day Will Dawn
Farewell
Black Hole
Let The Show Go On
Surrender
Use Me
Holding Out For A Hero (Bonnie Tyler cover)
Masks
In Your Eyes
Demons
In A Moment
Bring Me Home

https://www.reverbnation.com/horizonsedge
https://www.facebook.com/horizonsedgeofficial/

This review is the property of Iron
Mathew, Frenzy Fire and Metal Gods TV. It is strictly prohibited to copy any part of this
review, unless you have both of the parties’ permission, or are the band/record
label/PR company in question. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be
considered as Plagiarism and you will be reported to the appropriate
authorities.

---