Condition Red

With Kai Hansen leaving to focus more on Gamma Ray, Iron Savior find themselves with a new guitarist in the form of Joachim “Piesel” Kustner. So, what would that mean for Condition Red? Hansen’s unmistakably melodic playing – particularly whenever it comes to any of them tasty leads he lets out – accentuated Sielck’s more punchy riffing to make some real memorable joints. Well, just fire up “Titans of Our Time”, get blown away by the even punchier speed metal riffing here, and there’s your fuckin’ answer! I’d make a cheeky remark about how I should get around to listening to Piesel’s old material but umm… yeah, this is the first a lot of us have heard him – and hot damn, what a first impression!

Is the rest of the album good? Well of course! A lot of it comes down to Piesel’s more muscly rhythmic playing. “Protector”, “Ironbound”, “Mindfeeder” – do I need to say more? These songs hit like a freight train, the riffs are granolahead-levels of crunchy, and the choruses are absolutely larger than life. How they’re layered and how Sielck’s vocals accentuate the riffs to make them absolutely catchy all come together to some truly memorable choruses. This was already one of Iron Savior’s greatest strengths, something that Sielck and company carried with them after the departures of Stauch, Zimmermann and Hansen. The other major strength, of course, are the riffs. So, with beefier riffs come punchier song structures, and with those come tracks that immediately pulsate the senses. It’s funny because, when you think about it even medium-hard, the songwriting is definitely stripped down and more formulaic; it’s just that they conduct themselves so well, that it’s easy to overlook this fact. I sure hope this doesn’t come to bite them in the ass later on or anything...

There are some deviations, particularly towards the end. “No Heroes” is a more rocking joint that’s rather bouncy in its approach. Such a fun song to listen to, especially with the soloing and the highly melodic lead playing. On the other end – although depending on what version you have, it might not be on there – is “I Will Be There”. The more melancholic composition, with the more downbeat riff and dramatic chorus, certainly helps it to stand out from the rest. I’d say it’s the weakest song on the album, but it says more about how powerful the other tracks are. Then there’s the epic closer, “Thunderbird”. Despite the more stripped down approach to songwriting compared to Unification and Dark Assault, it’s great to see that they can still pull off a big hit. Just the sheer build-up from the welcoming leads to the unassuming triplets and then to the massive fuck off chorus, all before some truly climactic soloing and keyboarding – what a note to end Kuck’s time in Iron Savior on!

Couple allllll of that with razor-sharp production and I gotta tell ya – this is pretty terrific! Condition Red solidifies itself as a damn good Germanic power-laden speed metal album. A more straightforward approach breeds some right killer riffing out of Sielck and newcomer Piesel, coming together in some rather invigorating ways. For these reasons, it’s become their most defining album. It may be closer to what you’d expect from the 90s and early-2000s German power metal scene than the “Walls of Jericho with dashes of Land of the Free” affectation that Unification was, but it stands tall as a fine, fine example of the sound.

There are some things you can count on every time. Every morning, the sun rises. Every winter, the temperature drops. Every time Iron Savior puts out an album, they reaffirm their unshakeable commitment to their own brand of power metal. Even all the way back in 2002, when Condition Red came out, the pattern was clear. These German stalwarts liked their power metal energetic, somewhat thrashy, and loaded with catchy, soaring choruses. Sticking to their guns doesn’t result in an awesome album for these guys every time but this is one of those times.

Condition Red’s sound is surely familiar to anyone who's heard this band before. This is power metal with a thick and crunchy guitar tone and riff structures that show plenty of direct Priest and Maiden influence. The album’s full-bodied tone is reflected in Piet Sielk’s vocals. While gravelly, they’re plenty capable of delivering some solidly operatic choruses, often bolstered with the backing vocals of Joachim "Piesel" Küstner. The band makes the most of its vocal approach, loading Condition Red with anthemic choruses, like the rejuvenating fare in 'Thunderbird' and 'Titans of our Time'. This rough-edged but skillful performance extends to much of the rest of the album, with many of the songs boasting memorable verses and prechoruses as well.

None of the other performances can be said to be outstanding. The solos are good and the riffs well-delivered while the drums provide the proper momentum no matter the tempo without being particularly wild or punchy. The bass is sporadically audible but never noteworthy. That being said, Sielk is armed with a clear understanding of how to work within a well-established genre mold while keeping things interesting. The members of this band are more than capable of constructing inspired, invigorating moments with techniques their genre's been overusing for decades. Their performances seem passionate and the material they play is efficient and satisfying.

Despite reaching stratospheric peaks of quality in many of these songs, there are a few points on Condition Red that don't shine so bright. Around the middle of the album, we get some mid-paced songs that aren't very exciting. 'Warrior' and 'Mindfeeder' chug along dutifully, the former’s chorus sounding a little desperate in its attempted anthemic grandeur, the latter a bit of an uninspired snoozer. Additionally, the album loses some steam in its second half, with ‘‘No Heroes’ and, on some releases of the album, 'I Will Be There' also not being particularly energetic or engaging. Not a one of these songs is bad, but, at more than an hour in length, you will definitely be tempted to skip a few of the ones that stand between you and highlights like ‘Thunderbird’ and ‘Tales of the Bold’.

Though Condition Red contains a few mildly disappointing songs, the other pieces that make up this album are more than enough to make you forget about them. For the most part, Condition Red is a sharp, energetic display of power metal from a group of seasoned pros with plenty of enthusiasm who are more than happy to give fans of the genre what they want.

Stuff like this gives ammo to those who criticize the power metal genre of stagnancy. Condition Red almost listens like a Greatest Hits of Iron Savior with it's liberal borrowing from the band's heritage, except that Iron Savior can't even copy itself well. Nearly everything on this album reeks of an unmotivated band deliberately recycling the musical ideas of its previous works. I consider it deliberate because too often riffs and vocal melodies replicated from earlier songs have a slight "twist" as if to disguise the larceny. Unfortunately, this usually results in the dilution of what was once top quality power metal.

The high appraisal of this album truly astounds me because it takes only one listen to "Ironbound" to hear the phenomenon I described above. If I were Iron Savior I would be ashamed to put such a blatant cobble of previous material on an album. The truly saddening part of Condition Red is that the main offender is Piet. While the riffs usually stay in generic metal form, Piet's vocals sound eerily similar to other songs in the band's catalogue. I wonder how such an amazing vocalist and perhaps the most unique and interesting part of Iron Savior was suddenly reduced to such shoddy reprocessing.

Which is not to say there aren't a few highlights. I particularly enjoy the last two songs which could easily stand on their own in any of the first three albums. Furthermore, even songs that nearly amount to a rearrangement of past Iron Savior material still stands as some of the better material in the genre.

Opinions tend to vary, but a fairly broad consensus of those who live and die by the heroic art of power metal agree that the explosion of the style that began in the mid to late 90s in Europe was starting to cool a couple years into the new millennium. As with the rebirth of the scene, the coming valley that was to follow the peak first reared its head in Germany, revolving around key figures in the sub-genre's early pioneering patriarchal outfit Helloween. While it is tempting to point to the dirtier, darker aesthetic already established by said band's 2000 offering The Dark Ride as the catalyst that shifted the power metal paradigm, it was actually the resulting schism that followed said album that paved the way for Roland Grapow's more AOR-infused spin-off act Masterplan to set the new standard, with a fair degree of help by Jorn Lande's charisma as a vocalist and Andy Sneap's forbidding production sound. Not far away from these happenings was pre-Helloween figure, producer and Iron Savior front man Piet Sielck, who would see the lineup of his band drastically altered at around the same time, due partially to Masterplan's ascendancy, and ultimately formulate what would be the standard response from the conservative wing of the German camp to this new direction.

Condition Red, Iron Savior's fourth studio LP and their first one removed from the original mission statement of band, is possibly the most concentrated example of German power/speed metal orthodoxy. Even when compared to the 80s throwback character of Running Wild's material since the close of the 90s and Grave Diggers near-equally brazen conservatism, there is something almost ritualistic about this album that makes it stand out from all the rest, though not necessarily in a negative sense. The loss of co-front man and co-founder Kai Hansen from the fold is felt at every single turn, as newly recruited lead guitarist Joachim "Piesel" Kustner's more rock-based, leaning towards a Herman Frank character of sound is a bit less flashy than Hansen's shredding leads, to speak nothing for Sielck going it alone in the vocal department. For their part, bassist and now strictly rhythm section-based Jan-Soren Eckert and keyboardist Andreas Kuck play a minimal role in this album's development, the former having a presence comparable to Ian Hill, while the latter's atmospheric input is almost entirely absent from the album. In truth, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to consider this album a veritable Piet Sielck solo venture after the mold of Dio or U.D.O.

The resulting sound that emerges from this newly streamlined lineup is correspondingly bare bones in demeanor, drawing a fair degree of comparison to the aforementioned old school German speed/power acts Running Wild and Grave Digger, or perhaps even Piet's newly acquired protege outfit Paragon, a band that enjoyed his engineering services during this respective era. The riff work has a bit more of a thrashing quality to it, the tone of the guitars has a bit more bite, the rhythm section's punch is more exposed, and any degree of depth in the arrangement relies wholly on layered lead guitar and vocal tracks. In this capacity Piet's vocals are a bit more exposed, yet he proves up to the task of being a full on front man and delivers a powerful snarl from start to finish that is both forceful and tuneful. The high flying, heroic opener "Titans Of Our Time" and the more mid-paced title track "Condition Red" present a perfect synthesis of a Helloween-inspired sense of pomp with the more rustic and impact-based speed metal sound of Blind Guardian and prove to be the signature offerings of this album, though there are no slouches to speak of from a qualitative standpoint and there is ample detailing along for the ride to keep things interesting.

Though flaws be few when dealing with these songs on a micro level, this album's one weak point is a sense of overt safeness in a macro sense, almost to the point of borderline self-plagiarism. To a degree this approach of borrowing from the previous three albums works given that the story line that accompanies most of the album functions as a sort of prequel to the Iron Savior saga up until this point, outlining the fall into evil of one of the Savior's original designers and the creation of a dark anti-type dubbed The Dark Savior. Yet it's difficult to hear a litany of references to past classics in such speeders as "Protector" and "Ironbound" and not feel as though familiar territory is being tread out of a sense of safeness, ditto the slightly slower and safer variation of "Riding On Fire" with a few melodic tweaks that closes out the conceptual story "Tales Of The Bold". On the other hand, things get a bit fresher when the tempo slows down, giving way to a fun old school heavy metal romp in "Warrior" and an unsubtle nod to classic Accept dubbed "Mindfeeder" that comes dangerously close to being a lost track from said band's 1983 smash album Balls To The Wall.

On the other hand, this album could also be treated as a sort of final tribute and/or send off to Kai Hansen by his old friend, particularly when dealing with the trilogy of overt throwback songs that close out this album. An instant classic in its own right and a frequent favorite of the band in the years since, the crunchy anthem of the every man turned hero dubbed "No Heroes" definitely takes some heavy cues from the song that bears this band's name and cancels out the deficit in the originality department for a truly memorable and hard-hitting masterpiece. Likewise, the unofficial sequel to Kai's most noted offering to this band "Watcher In The Sky" dubbed "Paradise" presents a what if scenario for anyone wishing to hear what the original would have sounded like with Piet handling all the vocals and a keyboard-free, punchier arrangement surrounding him in the process. But the moment where it all comes together is the closing epic and galloping reworking of "Eye To Eye" off of Unification in "Thunderbird", which features soon to be departed keyboardist Andreas Kuck finally getting some time in the spotlight with a quasi-symphonic intro that is followed by a truly captivating metallic anthem paying tribute to the original Star Trek show.

Hindsight has a way of putting things into perspective, but also can prove to rob an album of its initial magic, and the passage of time invites a more moderated view of this album. There is a case to be made that the lavish praise that it received when it was first unleashed was justified given that it presented a rougher, more rugged version of what had originally put Iron Savior on the map, and also stood as a placeholder in what would be a 4 year studio absence by a number of prominent figures in the German power metal revival. However, what it has in a no nonsense take on things, it proves to lack in that early, unique charm that made the previous trilogy such an integral part of the millennial wave in question. It's less a triumphant game-changer than it is an exercise in getting the job done, and in spite of how well it accomplishes this, it proves to be a less ambitious face of the style when compared against the eponymous Masterplan debut that would follow the subsequent year and reshape the power metal landscape in the process. It would pave the way for a series of more toned down offerings throughout the 2000s by this band, followed by an extended stint as a label owner by its front man, dividing his attention away from making music in favor of shaping a greater number of future proponents of the style. From the beginning, Iron Savior was meant to be a vehicle for what Hansen and Sielck sought to do in the early 80s before the formation of Helloween, and Condition Red's place in history is as the first album after that mission had been accomplished.

(Rewritten on March 26th, 2020)

You can never go wrong with these titans of metal. Iron Savior brining us their 5th full length album, which is just about as flawless as you can get. Now that I think about it I believe this was the first album I heard from these guys, and it completely blew my mind. Now of course I have their entire collection (including all the cover songs they’ve done) and this album even tops their newest release Battering Ram. Iron Savior is one of the many bands that came from Helloween; they started as a side project and are now a full time band (thank god). I enjoy them a lot more than I do Helloween, even though they play pretty much the same style of metal. They don’t really bring anything new or special to the table, they just do it completely right and at a higher level than most power metal bands could ever imagine.

Piet Sielck vocalist/guitarist/songwriter is the mastermind behind it all and what a fine job he has done. Not only does he do a good job on guitar (he’s not the only one, have to give credit to Joachim Kustner as well) but he does an outstanding vocal job. I really enjoy the lyrics, which mainly focus on space and warriors; it is a really fun adventure you take as you listen to the album. I also must say the music on this album is absolutely perfect. I love every single song on this album, but my absolute favorite song on this album and of any Iron Savior album is Warrior. This song is freakin awesome. It has one of the coolest choruses you will ever hear:

“Warrior sworn to the blade
this is your live
this is your fate
Warrior faithful and true
the battle roars
it’s calling on you”

Some other killer songs that I like off this album include: Titans Of Our Time, Protector, the title track Condition Red, and Walls Of Fire.

Here’s an example of how metal is suppose to be done, as I might say this is one of the finest albums I have ever heard. I have no complaints about this album whatsoever (which is why it receives my first 5+). All killer and no filler! If you are a fan of any style of power metal, or even metal in general this is a band for you, if you haven’t checked Iron Savior out get off your dead ass and get every single fucking album from these guys as you will not be disappointed; and I recommend Condition Red as the top priority of your selection.

Get this album at all costs, as it will one day be a classic with all the greats. And here’s to Iron Savior for the future, keep it true as you have and I anticipate you kicking some more ass in the future.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com

Iron Savior's newest effort 'Condition Red' barely strays from what they had going throughout their previous 4 albums. Like in those before it, every element comes together perfectly to create top quality, soaring yet heavy and fast paced power metal. Most of the time, the riffing throughout reminds me of Painkiller and the soloing, Blind Guardian esque. The vocals are not particularly typical for the power metal genre, that is, there are no high pitched screams or pansy flowery Piet Sielck instead delivering in a more mid ranged, slightly raspy manner, something slightly resembling grave digger. Commpounding this, there are many layered vocal sections scattered throughout, which help give the vocals an overall melodic feel. The lyrics are all of the same theme (yes, we have a concept album on our hands), telling a science fiction story about a space monster and how some intergalatic warriors attempt (and do) defeat it so the people will live in liberty and freedom (which are both mentioned about 2387324 times each. The drumming is average, and sometimes gets a little boring, particularly when Thomas Nack does not know when to stop hammering away at the double bass. This happens in the first song inparticular. The bass is a little hard to hear some (well, a lot) of the time, yet this does not deminish from the overall sound on the record.

Every single song here is brilliant, although my two favourites are the speed metal tune of 'Tales of the Bold'. It has the most awesome solo which, if you showed to someone by itself, they would swear it was blind guardian. The chorus is also very well done; split up into two distinct sections, it will have you singing along on the second or third listen. The second being the epic number 'Thunderbird'. The intro and solo, again, have a lot incommon with Blind Guardian while the verse riff is of the typical galloping power metal variety.

Extremely good album by Iron Savior. They truley are one of the most consistent bands in all of power metal, and givin a few more years, might even challange bands such as Blind Guardian, Helloween and Gamma Ray for supremacy in this genre. Iron Savior and Condition Red: Highly Recommended.

Before I talk about this album, I want to take a minute to explain my views concerning Power Metal and the sounds embodied therein. Don't worry; I won't be too long, and I will tie it into this album.

Power Metal, with certain notable exceptions, can on the most fundamental level be broken down into two main camps: the type of Power Metal that involves more single-string and keyboard-oriented work, with soaring vocals and a "cleaner" sound, sporting bands such as Stratovarius, Sonata Arctica and Rhapsody, and the type that is more directly tied in with Thrash, including heavy riffs and a more "powerful" sound and featuring bands like Iced Earth and Gamma Ray.

Iron Savior falls into the latter category, and this album marks their ascent to the top of Power Metal. With the anthemic Titans of our Time, Iron Savior combines a thrashy base with soaring choruses to produce an epic work that marks the pinnacle of their sound. Other, more down-to-earth thrashy sounding songs including Protector and Condition Red, emphasize their thrashy roots and give them a sound very similar to a faster version of Iced Earth. This album is a hardcore masterpiece through and through, and Iron Savior has shown that there is nowhere to go from here but up.

Iron Savior are quickly climbing my list of favorite Power Metal bands with every release, as they just get better and better. Now completely removed from Kai Hansen, Iron Savior has truly come into their own. Condition Red is everything Power Metal should be: powerful, melodic, catchy, guitar heavy, and soaring.

Right from the opening moments of “Titans Of Our Time” you know that you’re in for a treat. The production is amazing, with the guitars being crunchy and the double bass being very powerful. The song is especially fast with a couple of tempo changes here and there but the best aspect of the song is the chorus! Piet Sielck has an excellent and unique voice, and when it is used with back up choirs you get some of the best choruses in Power Metal. Every single vocal line is solid and every chorus is memorable and well done on Condition Red. But, a chorus doesn’t make a song and thankfully Iron Savior keep the quality level up through the whole CD after “Titans Of Our Time”. The speedy German Speed tracks are all over the place with “Ironbound” and “Tales Of The Bold”, and as typical Iron Savior would dictate, the mid-tempo rock heavy tracks are here as well, often sounding, but not copying Primal Fear in that department. The Judas Priest influences can also be heard in the guitars and a vocal line in “Protector”, which sounds a lot like a certain part of “Electric Eye”. A lot of Power Metal bands are falling into the trap of depending too much on keyboards and vocal melodies, with the guitars as an after thought, but not Iron Savior. As demonstrated in every song, the leads are killer and the riffs are very upfront and even Thrashy at times, plus no keys are used, at least not as a lead or main melody instrument. Iron Savior’s unique atmosphere and melodies are pure guitars, bass, and vocals. Nothing wrong with keyboards in Metal, but bands that are able to accomplish what Iron Savior is doing without a high usage of keyboards, need to be mentioned.

I can’t find really any faults here at all, I love every song with the possible exception of the bonus track, “I’ll Be There”; It is still an enjoyable song but I’m docking a couple of points because it doesn’t even come close to comparing to the other tracks. Sielck and the boys have even done a cover of “Crazy” by Seal. I haven’t heard the original, but this song is very well done; it is decidedly different than typical Iron Savior but it is still very catchy and has a good bass groove. I think the biggest accomplishment of Condition Red is the epic “Thunderbird”. “Thunderbird” is one of the longest tracks I think Iron Savior have recorded and they did an amazing job- just check out that killer chorus, the progressive build-ups, and those double bass runs. Also, one cannot forget to mention the lyrics. Once again, the topic of the lyrics is science-fiction, focusing on the Iron Savior; fans of their previous work should feel right at home, as the story continues on from the last couple of releases on Condition Red.

All in all this is one of the best releases of the year and Iron Savior’s best work yet. Yeah, they’re not doing any experimenting or expanding the Power Metal genre with new aspects, but they are raising the bar for all Power Metal bands to follow with killer and well-executed German Power Metal!