
Sword and sandal.
-- Warkings --
13/11/2020
Stijn Daneels

Album genres:
■ | Power metal |
Album artists:
■ | The Tribune | Vocals |
■ | The Crusader | Guitar |
■ | The Viking | Bass |
■ | The Spartan | Drums |
Review
written by Marjolein “Mrs. Metal Shredder” Deduytschaever.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND
I
discovered Warkings when browsing through Instagram and I introduced them to my
man Stijn “Metal Shredder” and we both dug this band quite instantly. I’ve
always had a huge appetite for power metal such as Hammerfall and Iced Earth so
shredding this new Warkings album became an obvious choice for me.
“Revenge”
is the second album from the power metal band Warkings and released through
Napalm Records, the album was provided to us by Hard Life Promotion.
THE SONGS THEMSELVES
The first
song “Freedom” is an epic opener. It’s a very powerful song backed by grinding
guitars and galloping drums and with quite heavy vocals. Especially the grunts
makes this song more brutal than how it would originally be. Next comes
“Maximus” one of the singles released prior to the album. This tune is much
more energetic and upbeat. It’s an anthem like track that would be ideal to
ride out to war, Ancient Roman style! The song’s chorus is a catchy duet
between the heavy and clean vocals. The album’s third song is named “Warriors”
and is a really epic power metal track. It pays tribute to the mighty warriors of
which this song is about, it really has that festive vibe thanks to its
technical guitar solos and the uplifting main beats. The following track “Fight
in the shade” is the second heaviest song on this album because of its roaring
riffs and vocals that are both operatic and vicious so it really fits its
title. This song gives off a real “We are at war and must fight” feeling.
“Odin’s
sons,” the fifth tune is slower but still pretty heavy and powerful much due in
part thanks to The Queen of the Damned’s raw backing vocals. It does kind of miss
a fade out or outro since it ends really abruptly and without a warning. The
sixth song “Banners High” is more intimate, which makes it easier to listen to
and to take in. It’s a lot more atmospheric and lighthearted. The riff is highly
guitar based and gives this tune a more slower yet stronger vibe. Next up is
“Mirror, mirror” a clean and very diverse track with quick and hard parts but
also with quite a serene chorus. It has a very quick bridge which builds
towards a perfect transition to the catchy chorus. The eighth song is called
“Azrael”. The beginning of the song is like a silence before the storm and in
this track the drums are more prominent and they give of a marching vibe that
fits perfectly with the lyrics and there once again is some sweet guitar solos
to top it off.

“Battle of
Marathon”, the ninth tune is stylistically like Amon Amarth because of the fast
drums, sharp guitars and rougher vocals. Like many of other Warkings songs,
this is another track fitting for a company of foot soldiers heading out to war.
Next on this “Revenge” album is the song “Warkings,” which, obviously, serves
as the band’s anthem and is very powerful and enchanting to listen to. It
really draws you in with its marching beats, keyboard loaded chants and
motivational lyrics which deal with brotherhood and fighting spirit! And last
but not least there’s “Sparta”. This track has some brutal parts in the riffs
and vocals that made it stand out from the rest of the album. It gives you the
feeling that you are part of the Spartans of the 300 movie franchise. After
all, this is Sparta!
MY CONCLUSION
Overall,
Warkings’s “Revenge” is a really powerful and atmospheric but still a pretty
dark and brutal album. This album feels like it could be from Hammerfall, not
only because of the musical style but also because The tribune’s voice is
similar to that of Hammerfall’s Joacim Cans.
Warkings is
a band that I can warmly recommend to fans of Amon Amarth, Iced Earth and Hammerfall
in particular as well as those who love the classic sword and sandal movies
like 300, Benhur, Braveheart and Gladiator. It contains influences from all those bands and
references to all those epic movies. So check out this royal quartet unless
you’re not entertained by power metal! In any case, here’s “Maximus.”
MY SCORE
80/100