This is an essential inclusion for the cover alone. I recall seeing this time after time back in the heyday of '80s metal but I was never able to pick a copy up. Thankfully, behind the facade of the mystical imagery lies a very good heavy metal album. Thrash ? At times, especially on the vocal grunts of opener 'Penance', driven by some guitar wizardry (Tony Fredianelli)but the album is more of a power metal trip, relying heavily on a more classic metal vein. It's one of those records something akin to reading a 'Dungeons & Dragons' tome, whilst enshrouding in darkness, the book only illuminated by wavering candle flame and the lights from the stereo. I guess you just had to be there...'Tablet Of Destiny' is a guitar shredders pornography, complex, mystical and classical, 'Riding In The Night' is chest pounding. You can see the armies of warriors seething across the sky, and check out those vocals, boisterous, hairy and proud...this isn't Manowar cheese, but full-blooded power metal perfect for the time. Light the fires and watch them burn in the forest. Gather round dwarves and armoured princes, for tonight we ride into the mists of time...
Produced by Marty Friedman of Megadeth fame, this should please most seeking their own golden fleece...
7.5/10
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