phantom x

THis is war

RELEASED 2010

‘Hail to thee legions of the Elves’ is not exactly the most common opening line for an album… But this is Phantom X, this is Power Metal and This is War… It’s actually a bloody good listen too!

Coming across as leaning more to the traditional school of power – there are obvious ripples of Maiden in the mixture; Phantom X has a pretty clean sound that fits well with the music on offer.

Highlights for us are very Maiden influenced ‘The Lord of The Sword’; and the wonderful ‘Chaos in Paradise’ but it’s some of the lighter moments that also produce a lot of interest with "Discovery II" and the acoustic instrumental "Twilight" showing a lot of feel and rea; versatility.  

There’s touches of Dio-era Sabbath on songs like ‘Chaos in Paradise’ and the restrained nature of songs like ‘Into Battle We Ride’ is more melodic metal than wailing guitars. It’s in that lightness of touch that Phantom X sets them apart: proving it’s not always necessary to hammer the songs home; melody has a power of its own…

Overall this is a very solid album in a genre that is pretty cluttered these guys do stand out both in terms of song-writing and execution. The next offering should be very interesting indeed.

By Leslie Phillips