tracklist:
01. Battering Ram
02. Stand Against the King
03. Tyranny of Steel
04. Time Will Tell
05. Wings of Deliverance
06. Break the Curse
07. Riding Free
08. Starchaser
09. Machine World
10. H.M Powered Man
11. The Call

Country: Germany
Label: Noise Records
Similar bands: Helloween, Gamma Ray, Freedom Call

Guitars, lead vocals: Piet Sielck [1996-]
Guitars, vocals: Joachim "Pisel" Kьstner [1999-]
Bass: Yenz Leonhardt
Drums: Thomas Nack [1999-]

Former members:
Guitars, vocals: Kai Hansen [1996-2001]
Bass, vocals: Jan Soren Eckert [1999-?]
Drums: Thomas "Thomen" Stauch [1996-1997]
Drums: Daniel Zimmermann [1997-1999]
Keyboards, vocals: Andreas Kьck [1999-?]



Review by Malcolm

Piet Sielck, one of the founders to the legendary Power Metal band Helloween, is back with his Iron Savior, and with ”Battering Ram” they releases their sixth album (Second without the co-founder to Helloween and founder of Gamma Ray, Kai Hansen).
And now it seems like Piet knows how to survive without Kai at his side, since I didn’t like “Condition Red” a bit, so this is a saviour, if you ask me.
But there is another line-up change done since the last album, Bassist Jan-S. Eckert is replaced by Yenz Leonhardt and the keyboarder Andreas Kьck is gone, so Iron Saviour is now a quartet, with keyboards.

The influences from the other big German Power Metal bands is quite huge, but it’s not a clone, so if thought so, forget that at once.
With Piet’s whiskey-oozing voice, Iron Savior’s music is much more powerful than for example Helloween, its more Heavy Metal in another word.
Another thing that’s separate Iron Savior from their compatriots, with “Battering Ram” is that there is no ballad on this album, can you imagine that? I mean, a Power Metal band without a ballad?
And with this sixth album, they really show us that they can survive without Kai, even if I from the beginning (and after heard the last album) doubted it, Piet have shown me that I was wrong.

“Battering Ram” contains 10 songs filled with energy and joy of playing, which makes is very nice to listen too, it’s much guitars (now since the keyboarder is gone) and the feeling of older and bigger Heavy Metal bands (like Judas Priest) is also present.
And the choruses holding world champion class, it’s very hard not to sing-a-long in almost every song, very catchy.
Of course is there some songs that I gladly would have deleted if I could, some “fillers”, but overall the songs are very even in the quality, but there is some that I want to give an extra word to, “Battering Ram”, “Break the Curse”, “Machine World” & “H.M Powered Man”, those are the songs that makes the album whole.
(The title-track is very influenced by Gamma Ray).

So conclude it all; “Battering Ram” is a very good album, much better than “Condition Red”, that’s really saves the day for German Power (Heavy) Metal, and I think Piet might have his acknowledgment as a very good musician, and people might now understand that Iron Savior is Piet’s band, not Kai’s or anyone else’s.
The production is quite good, even if I feel that the sound of the guitars almost kills the other elements, in some songs it’s hard to hear Piet sing, it’s just two guitars that’s screaming.
But otherwise I can’t find anything to complain about, and even if this isn’t a killer album, it’s good, and I think Iron Savior soon will be one of the biggest bands German have, together with the ones that are today (Helloween, Gamma Ray and so on).