Stand United

Stand United is a work that presents the guitar-led power metal FIREWIND has kept honing, together with the strength of melody. Even in fast-running songs, by placing singable choruses and impressive phrases at the center rather than merely increasing the number of notes, momentum turns directly into elation. Even after a long career, it is a record on which their fullness has not wavered in the least. On “Salvation Day,” “Stand United” and “Destiny Is Calling,” dense guitar work, thick rhythm and dramatic development give each song a scale like a heroic epic. Songs like “The Power Lies Within” and “Days of Grace” breathe the band’s full playing too. It reaches not only those who love the form of orthodox metal but also listeners who want to enter from the beauty of the melody. Herbie Langhans’s powerful voice vividly shows the band’s present standing — a full record.