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Zeno Morf: Kingdom of Ice

Melodic/Heavy/Power Metal

4.0/5.0

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Pure Steel Publishing
by Craig Hartranft,  19.03.2014

Hailing from the west coast of Norway is traditional heavy metal band Zeno Morf bringing their third album, Kingdom of Ice. Perhaps it's an appropriate title for the band as parts of Norway are quite frigid year round.

Zeno Morf: hair not required.

Considering their origins date to 1987, Zeno Morf reminds and sounds like the New Wave of British Heavy Metal peers that were still influential in that day. The band works with the basics of simple melodic heavy metal, bumped up at times for more traditional. They do this with equally simple structure of bass, drums, and twin guitars, with guitarist Erik Westerlund also handling the vocals. All the songs have strong melodic lines, developed well through the chord structures and solos.

Some songs can offer both the heaviness and snap of power metal like Hammer Squad (with classic metal shouts), Kingdom of Ice, though the pace can moderate, or Between the Twilight and the Dead, which has crisp but brief guitar solo. Other songs stick to the straight forward steady heavy metal pace like Lost, Blackout, and Carved in Stone which, backed down a little might sound like Candlemass inspired doom metal. Also, you might catch some slight prog metal nuances in a song like Our Own Worst Enemy. Additionally, while the guitar solos are abundant and great, I was rather impressed with spry bass lines from Vidar Aas, notable on the aforementioned song, and Trygve André Tvedt's solid and steady drumming, a notable example being within Home of the Brave. As for Westerlund's vocals, well, let's just say he's consistent, sounding the same on most every song. Finally, production and mix is quite good as well, better than expected, really bringing up the bass and drums. If you like classic melodic heavy/power metal done well, Zeno Morf is worth checking out. Recommended.

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If you like classic melodic heavy/power metal done well, Zeno Morf's Kingdom of Ice is worth checking out. Recommended.

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