If a band sounds like a combination between Helloween, Gamma Ray and Hammerfall, how can it survive in the tough world of metal music business? Simple: With determination, enthusiasm and competence. Sweden's Nostradameus is one of the countless power metal bands, but when they have all the three abovementioned traits, the band really surface from that foul-smelling slump of million and one lame power metal bands. And they also manage to crawl on dry ground.

Okay, maybe naming those three bands was a bit foolish thing to do, but it's the simplest way to invite the fans of this style and terrify everyone else before they read too far. Anthemic metal with classical bits is Nostradameus' task. They usually step on the accelerator, and there's not much of slower moments here, except for a few bits in some of the songs and on the positively ballsy, maybe because of its American rock stylings that come to my mind, ballad 'Without Your Love'. Nostradameus' power metal is saturated with speed metal. It's not as heavy as on the newer albums the band have released, but still it does not belong into the notorious "cheesy all the way" category. It is epic, dramatic, but yes, at times it goes beyond the point of cheesiness, which is nigh on impossible to avoid when doing this kind of metal. Everything's been powerfully performed and enthusiasm heard reminds me of the likes of Gamma Ray and earlier Helloween. The album features equally good songs and there's no limping moments.

And when thinking about how much there's this style of metal around, Nostradameus manage to sound characteristic. The merit for this goes to the guitar duo Jake Fredén / Erik Söderman who pull some original pieces in between all the genre clichés, and to the vocalist Freddy Persson (also bass) who has quite powerful yet soaring voice with some defiance in it, and what's the best, he does not want to sound like *insert the name of any good power metal vocalist here*. He's backed by a small male choir, which fits like a gauntlet in a warrior's hand. The drummer Gustav Nahlin really kicks the shit outta his drum kit! The Markus Mayer (a.o. Kreator, Grave Digger, Nightwish) cover painting casts fittingly dark mood for the story of seer Nostradamus, if somewhat fabled, but rich in atmosphere nevertheless. The last two songs are unconnected to the story.

If you want power metal performed with fire, then you can't go wrong with 'Words of Nostradameus'. It has both sides: Fierceness and cheesiness, but the first rules over the smelly second. So prepare for some serious neck pain!

Rating: 7½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
10/07/2009 13:05