IGNITION
“Vengeance”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9.5/10

Ignition are a power metal band from Germany formed in 2014 releasing their debut E.P. ‘We Are The Force’ in 2016. The bands debut full length album ‘Guided By The Waves’ followed in 2017, with sophomore album ‘Call Of The Sirens’ emerging in 2020. ‘Vengeance’ is Ignition’s third album, and was released in 2023…

…featuring twelve songs across fifty ferocious minutes! I say ferocious, ’cause the band deliver a blend of heavy/power metal similar in style to fellow countrymen (and power metal pioneers) Rage. Ignition are on fire, exploding into life with the fast paced ‘Ignite The Fire’ – a high velocity rampage of blistering speed and aggression! The band are in raucous mood, banging the heads of every single metalhead in the world, including me! What an incredible opening salvo, ‘Vengeance’ marching on with the more mid tempo but still full of energy ‘The Wounds That Cause The Pain’, Ignition adopting a mighty anthemic feel. ‘The Wounds That Cause The Pain’ is rougher and tougher than the opener ‘Ignite The Fire’ yet nonetheless melodic. Two very different styles of metal across the albums opening double, ‘Adrenaline’ looks to make it three with a mellow intro loaded with serene leanings, until thirty seconds in when the band break loose with a torrent of thunder. The intensity since the album began has been incredible, Ignition blending together traditional and power metal traits.

With the album up and running fully now, the band launch ‘Beastmode’ with a scorching groove metal feel, and a melodious intent second to none! The mid tempo full of energy style of the album so far is wrecking necks all over the world, metalheads thoroughly enjoying themselves. And why not – the music on offer is so damn infectious, ‘Kingdom Of Lies’ picking up the baton, racing off into the distance with a thrash metal ferocity. The band are toeing the borders between the thrash, power and heavy metal genres, sprinkling ‘Kingdom Of Lies’ with a touch of all three! ‘A New Dawn’ returns the albums overall mid tempo swagger, Ignition suddenly taking a diversion into the mellowness of balladry! Balladry on a metal album – regular readers knowing full well just how I feel about that! Thankfully though, the band heavy things up, ‘A New Dawn’ mixing a foot stomping crescendo with its root ballad tendencies. Good save Ignition, good save.

The groove metal style heard a little earlier makes its presence felt once more, ‘The Rise’ pressing the pedal firmly to the metal, and accelerating off at top speed – slowing to a mid tempo for the highly sing a long-able chorus break! The album is hopping from genre to genre, attracting a very wide array of listeners, the band broadening their musical horizons with every song that passes by. The one minute ‘A Dark Fate’, is an effects laden instrumental with an incredible level of menace and fear, building to a crescendo, segueing into ‘Betrayal’ with a bombastic barrage! The band are at their most aggressive here too, even the vocals carry a little bit of aggression in them, Ignition melding a thrash metal attitude with their root power come heavy metal sound.

A sound that’s been blazing a fiery trail all album long, ‘We Were The Shieldwall’ maintaining the bands barrage of savagery wrapped in a crispy and delicious coating of immense melodious intent. The blistering pace of ‘We Were The Shieldwall’ is mixed with more mid tempo passages to allow for some head nodding, alongside out and out head banging! Ignition’s attraction is monolithic, the bands third album a barnstorming and highly infectious roller coaster. A roller coaster that rolls on with ‘The Funeral’ – a bonus offering found only on the CD version of ‘Vengeance’ – featuring the most melodic and majestic feel of any other song heard so far. Even the chorus has an anthemic call to arms aura that’ll have every listener, fan and follower singing along. Bringing the album to a close, ‘The Final Hour’ hammers hard, devastating small towns and villages with its immense power and force. The band are hitting very hard here, reminding listeners that Ignition are a very heavy, power metal band that mean business… And business is good!

Overall, power metal fury at its best, ‘Vengeance’ is a non stop barrage of infectious heavy metal with a high level of head bang ability.

TRACKLIST

Ignite The Fire
The Wounds That Cause The Pain
Adrenaline
Beastmode
Kingdom Of Lies
A New Dawn
The Rise
A Dark Fate
Betrayal
We Were The Shieldwall
The Funeral
The Final Hour

https://www.ignitionmetalmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/Ignitionmetalmusic

This review is the property of Iron Mathew 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

---