Fairytale - Army Of Ghosts

Fairytale was founded in Germany in 2000 by guitarist, and only original member, Colin Büttner.  In those twenty-three years they have only released four albums and obviously will never be known as the most prolific band out there.  Their latest Army Of Ghosts is a long time coming (the last one was released in 2017), but for fans of the band who have been waiting, it was well worth the wait.  Drawing a lot of influence from eighties and nineties metal like Saxon and Iron Maiden, they are best described as power metal, but with some touches of prog and anthemic metal, and extremely strong melodies from front to back.  Following a short, mood-setting synth heavy instrumental to get things started, they head into the title track, a hard driving power metal cut woven with big prog-like passages. “Voices From Inside” is a pummeling head banger with some great guitar work and tracks like the extremely impressive “Waxwork”, “1428” and to a lesser degree “Morningside” do a great job of channeling Iron Maiden, especially with hints of the galloping Maiden beat.  “Elizabeth Dane”, probably my favorite song here, is another hard charging track, but has more of a groove rock sound with especially impressive guitar, along with drumming that at times has a bit of a jazz feel.  They also throw in a little thrash with “Horace P” before closing with the heavier prog rocker “Alive”.  Lyrically there is a common theme throughout the album with each track inspired by a well-known horror story or movie.  If old school metal is your thing I would highly recommend giving Army Of Ghosts a listen.   

(Pure Steel Records)