DRAKKAR “When Lightning Strikes”

DRAKKAR
“When Lightning Strikes”
(My Kingdom)
This was like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky. Drakkar hasn’t been on my radar for a good few years now but apparently they are still going strong. This Italian band can best be described as part of that whole power metal wave we saw coming from Italy at the end of the 90s/beginning of the 00s. Lead by Rhapsody they took power metal to even greater heights cheered on by labels like Underground Symphony and Dragonforce. Now it is 2012. Rhapsody are In Fire. Underground Symphony hasn’t been active for a while now and what ever happened to Dragonforce I don’t know. Drakkar on the other hand seem to carry on where they left off. This is symphonic power metal that makes Tolkien seem like a kid’s novel. This is big, grand and so good that I can’t believe that I’ve managed to survive this long without it. There is a heaviness to Drakkar that makes for a break from the most pompous arrangements found with for example Rhapsody In Fire. Anders