Fight to the End

I didn’t quite know what I was getting into with Vhäldemar, since I bought this without ever hearing a song from the Spaniards, and power metal means a lot of different things to different people. To these guys, at least on their debut, it seemed to mean Gamma Ray, which is absolutely fine by me. The version of Gamma Ray is pretty close to what Somewhere Out in Space or Power Plant saw the German act doing, meaning forceful and catchy material that doesn’t skimp on solos or singalong choruses, yet Vhäldemar do me the favour of cutting the songs down to shorter versions and toughening up anything even remotely balladic. On first listen, I kept expecting each new number to be a slow and heartfelt song, right after I saw 'Feelings' in the tracklist, plus stuff like 'Old King's Visions', but honestly this is perhaps the most bombastic power metal album I own, and that's quite a statement given that nothing extreme enters the equation on Fight to the End.

The quartet that recorded this 20 years ago obviously had skills but didn't want to mess around either. Apart from the odd choice to begin both of the opening pair with dark voiceovers, the assault that greets the ears after that feels bulky, passionate, and often pretty chaotic, especially when the pace gets high and some of the many solos whirl over the whole thing. Everything feels just a bit more overdriven than the equivalent Gamma Ray feature, such as the yowling vocals that very much prefer power and grit over precision, or the absolute clobbering riffs and squealing whammy bar abuse that makes this a guitar album despite the occasional high-pitched singing part. Even 'Old King's Visions', the longest song at 6 minutes and the only one over 5, melts down into a wailing lead after its second chorus as the guitar simply drips with tonal juice, then attacks the (fairly reverent) final chorus with the whammy bar in full effect. That cut has the most elegance to its main melody and vocal approach, though being followed up with '7' after a brief intro - with the funny name of 'Number' - shows that Vhäldemar do not care about majesty and old kings nearly as much swinging big swords right at your jugular. Such is the frenzy of this one that it achieves thrash levels of pace and battery, while Carlos Escudero is essentially just screaming at some points, not even singing.

And I think more power metal albums should have moments like that, as well as the thrilling technicality shown on instrumental 'The Helmet of War', which again keeps things brief and exciting, sort of like those lightning smart songs that self-proclaimed geniuses Malmsteen or Timo Tolkki would deign to make once in their career. I have to admit that not every cut is a total winner, with a few that I don't look forward to quite so much, though that's more likely that experiencing these songs beats remembering them later in the relative calm of silence. Fight to the End has seen pretty good rotation in the car for me, rating highly in terms of encouraging overtaking and being on the ball when the traffic lights go green. Also a point to recommend it, I think it's one of very few albums I have that can sound at once so aggressive and yet overall promote an essentially positive vibe. The clattering percussion and fiery soloing come from a place of confidence, not anger, and that makes a great difference to how I feel listening to it, since that kind of thing really puffs my chest out and makes me feel unbeatable. I have a version with a few demos on, which might be worth getting for an additional instrumental named 'Patroclus', if not especially for the still great but similar renditions of '7' and 'Lost World'. Arguably Vhäldemar made a slightly messy start to their recording career, which even fans of speedy German power metal may find a bit over the top, but I can't help loving all the enthusiasm that goes into Fight to the End.