When a band agrees on a tittle for their albums they must be aware of everything it means because, de rigueur, they are making a statement. Here with “The Triumph of Metal” Hartlight are stating they are huge, huge Manowar fans. To be more Manowar possible just change the Metal for Steel, and, voilà, this is a Manowar album. If my dear child of the night pays close attention to the themes from the songs, Manowar are the first band that comes to mind. However, a quick hear to album opener “The Triumph of Metal“ the resemblances are over. With some hard pushing it would be possible to say they are a modern version of Manowar, but that would not be the truth because Hartlight took the other road to Metalville.
“The Triumph of Metal” is an album of Symphonic Metal with strong roots on its melodic verve. The long and winding songs showcases Hartlight might have also some Prog Metal influences due to the extreme care with the instrumentals and the use of many classical music features. Ok, not all bands with classical music inspiration are Prog Metal, but the feeling and intent are here. “The Triumph of Metal” bounces moments of pure fury with a hard sweetness and some melancholy and that can happen in only one song as album opener “The Triumph of Metal“ tells me so. I do not know if it is only me, but I feel some Black Metal influences on the initial guitar riff maybe due to its intense playing. But the grand finale is with “A Song of Blood and Steel,” a them full of emotion and complex songwriting in a eleven minute trip of total madness embellished with the grand wrapping Hartlight gave to it.
So, this is “The Triumph of Metal” an album that could be totally inspired on Manowar’s music, but it happens to be inspired only in their thematic. But to come to think of it, for some moments, paying close attention to the movements of the songs here it was possible to feel that Angra’s “Angel’s Cry” was really the big reference to the album. Even better.
Hartlight “The Triumph of Metal” was released on February 28th.
Track Listing:
02. Polymorphia
03. The Scales of Rebis
04. Midnight
05. The City of Tears
06. Mind’s Arboretum
07. As My Will to Power Is Seen
08. A Song of Blood and Steel
Watch official music video here:
Source: metaladdicts.com
