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tracks:
01 - Holy War
02 - Freedom's Blood
03 - Time
04 - The Invisible Empire
05 - Demon's Child
06 - High In The Sky
07 - Alexander The Great
08 - Crystal Tears
09 - Iced WInd Of The North
10 - My Eternal Flame
11 - Troops Of Avalon
label: lion music, 2005
Line-up
Dushan Petrossi (g)
Goetz Mohr (lv)
Vassili Moltchanov (B)
Anton Arkhipov (d)
+
Richard Andersson (k)
Oliver Hartmann (lv)
Based on "Revenge Is My Name", the mediocre first Iron Mask album from 2002, and Magic Kingdom’s poor debut "The Arrival" (2000), I would’ve awaited this new disc by Dushan Petrossi’s solo project with little anticipation. The Belgian guitar wizard impressed fan and fiend last year through when he unleashed the second Magic Kingdom album "Metallic Tragedy", which surpassed its predecessor in all aspects. Back then, yours truly had some interesting e-mail conversations with both bands’ mastermind and fellow countrymen Petrossi. After I had listened to "Hordes Of The Brave", I simply had to shoot him another mail, as it fulfills nearly all my expectations!
Gone are vocalist Phil Letawe and keyboardist Youri Degroote, who have been replaced by international talent and experience respectively. Lead vocalist Goetz Mohr is more or less a new face on the scene. Introduced to Dushan by his soul mate Oliver Hartmann (Hartmann, ex-At Vance), who guests on this album as a lead vocalist on "The Invisible Empire", "Crystal Tears" and the duet "Iced Wind Of The North", Mohr is reminiscent of Graham Bonnet, David Coverdale and Hartmann himself. The latter is not surprisingly when you know Hartmann has been Mohr’s pupil for years. Interesting note straight from Dushan: they once played together in a band called Merlin, Mohr behind the mike, Hartmann... on guitars! Mohr’s performance on this album is simply amazing and I’m sure we’ll hear more from him (literally) in the future. To add some more experience, Petrossi contacted the Swedish lord of the keys Richard Andersson (Time Requiem, Richard Andersson’s Space Odyssey, ex-Majestic) who put down all keyboard solos for "Hordes Of The Brave". And finally, respecting the motto ‘never change a winning team’, our guitar hero contacted his Magic Kingdom buddies bassist Vassili Moltchanov and drummer Anton Arkhipov to populate the new Iron Mask rhythm section.
The bunch outdid themselves in the studio to deliver this recommended gem with outstanding catchy cuts as "Time", "The Invisible Empire", "High In The Sky", the sublime "Crystal Tears" and the powerful "Iced Wind Of The North". "Hordes Of The Brave", mixed by Didier Chesneau, mastered by the mighty Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios and provided of cover artwork by Russion artist Leo Hao (Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Nocturnal Rites) and Belgian designer Eric Philippe (Rhapsody, Mob Rules), contains the best material Petrossi has ever written. Go get yourself some of what is undoubtedly among the finest ever coming out of Belgium!^
01 - Holy War
02 - Freedom's Blood
03 - Time
04 - The Invisible Empire
05 - Demon's Child
06 - High In The Sky
07 - Alexander The Great
08 - Crystal Tears
09 - Iced WInd Of The North
10 - My Eternal Flame
11 - Troops Of Avalon
label: lion music, 2005
Line-up
Dushan Petrossi (g)
Goetz Mohr (lv)
Vassili Moltchanov (B)
Anton Arkhipov (d)
+
Richard Andersson (k)
Oliver Hartmann (lv)
Based on "Revenge Is My Name", the mediocre first Iron Mask album from 2002, and Magic Kingdom’s poor debut "The Arrival" (2000), I would’ve awaited this new disc by Dushan Petrossi’s solo project with little anticipation. The Belgian guitar wizard impressed fan and fiend last year through when he unleashed the second Magic Kingdom album "Metallic Tragedy", which surpassed its predecessor in all aspects. Back then, yours truly had some interesting e-mail conversations with both bands’ mastermind and fellow countrymen Petrossi. After I had listened to "Hordes Of The Brave", I simply had to shoot him another mail, as it fulfills nearly all my expectations!
Gone are vocalist Phil Letawe and keyboardist Youri Degroote, who have been replaced by international talent and experience respectively. Lead vocalist Goetz Mohr is more or less a new face on the scene. Introduced to Dushan by his soul mate Oliver Hartmann (Hartmann, ex-At Vance), who guests on this album as a lead vocalist on "The Invisible Empire", "Crystal Tears" and the duet "Iced Wind Of The North", Mohr is reminiscent of Graham Bonnet, David Coverdale and Hartmann himself. The latter is not surprisingly when you know Hartmann has been Mohr’s pupil for years. Interesting note straight from Dushan: they once played together in a band called Merlin, Mohr behind the mike, Hartmann... on guitars! Mohr’s performance on this album is simply amazing and I’m sure we’ll hear more from him (literally) in the future. To add some more experience, Petrossi contacted the Swedish lord of the keys Richard Andersson (Time Requiem, Richard Andersson’s Space Odyssey, ex-Majestic) who put down all keyboard solos for "Hordes Of The Brave". And finally, respecting the motto ‘never change a winning team’, our guitar hero contacted his Magic Kingdom buddies bassist Vassili Moltchanov and drummer Anton Arkhipov to populate the new Iron Mask rhythm section.
The bunch outdid themselves in the studio to deliver this recommended gem with outstanding catchy cuts as "Time", "The Invisible Empire", "High In The Sky", the sublime "Crystal Tears" and the powerful "Iced Wind Of The North". "Hordes Of The Brave", mixed by Didier Chesneau, mastered by the mighty Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios and provided of cover artwork by Russion artist Leo Hao (Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Nocturnal Rites) and Belgian designer Eric Philippe (Rhapsody, Mob Rules), contains the best material Petrossi has ever written. Go get yourself some of what is undoubtedly among the finest ever coming out of Belgium!^