Fourth album in 6 years for the unstoppable power metal machine called Wardrum (the first three in a three year period!). Awakening took a bit longer to complete than usual and I personally think that this was a good thing since I firmly believe that it’s not possible for a contemporary band to maintain the highest level possible while releasing albums year after year. As far as it concerns the level of the musicians that form Wardrum, there are not many things to be said since their previous work with the band and their impressive CVs say it all. Lets focus on the songwriting and on where Awakening stands compared to the rest of the band’s discography.
The first notable thing is that the sound and style remain the same. If not a bit more melodic compared to Messenger which seemed a bit more overwhelming. In the familiar Wardrum standards though. Giannis Papadopoulos is not only the owner of a powerful and admirable voice but also contributes beautiful vocal melodies that add that extra something especially to the choruses. So Giannis is a delight and so are the rest of the guys who spare nothing when it comes to playing. The feeling after consecutive spins is that we are dealing with yet another great album of contemporary power metal and further comparisons are rather unnecessary. For me it is not a matter of surpassing a certain high level with each release but to maintain it and I think that Awakening is successful in that manner. If I MUST make one single comparison that would be with a band serving a related style and sound like Firewind. And Wardrum seem to have surpassed them.
The band yet again certifies that it’s among the best bands of the power metal genre in a worldwide scale and the sole obstacle keeping them from further fame and establishment is the country of origin. If Wardrum were from let’s say Finland, they would appear in all major European Festivals.
