Defying the Rules

(Total rewrite; original shitty version posted March 14th, 2008)

I initially wanted to make it a point to not really reference my old reviews as I rewrote them beyond a quick mention in the title, but I do have to admit that this is probably the one I wanted to do the most. It's one of the very few I couldn't even glance at without cringing my face into a shape akin to a balloon knot. I did the early-internet FLAME SHIELD UP thing, I felt the need to put my real name in the title because I was getting popular here at the time and arrogantly wanted to be "a thing" in the community, and I was fucking terrified of the potential blowback for giving the album a mediocre score simply because it was super popular at the time and hadn't scored below a 90%. So even though I was pretty critical of it I tempered my problems a lot and played up the bits I liked and still "only" gave it an 85% (and still acted like a free thinking martyr at the same time). It was awful. Be glad I'm killing it.

So... why was Hibria considered the next big thing in the mid aughties anyway? The answer is simple. Defying the Rules here is one of the more complete albums in terms of power metal debuts and it fucking ruled. It's a thundering powerhorse from a group of newbies that sounded 100% fully formed in terms of identity, and it was so showy and immediate that it blew everybody off their chairs. Power metal was doing pretty well anyway, and Brazil has always been on the map anyway thanks to Angra, but something about these guys just worked. They had that X factor that so many of their peers lacked.

So why am I so lukewarm on it? Because I only agree with everything I said up there when it comes to four songs. The opening triad of "Steelord on wHeels", "Change Your Life Line", and "Meelenyum Quast" are fucking phenomenal, as is the title track a bit later in the runtime. Everything else just fucking bores me. They bored me back then and they bore me now, and I wish I had the spine to admit it back in 2008. "Leeving Under Ice" is just plodding and goes nowhere, "A Kingdom to Share" has an amazing bass run in the intro but totally loses my interest afterwards, "The Faceless in Chahge" is fine I guess but probably needed to be three minutes shorter, et cetera. The lion's share of this album is just really basic power/speed metal but with extra showy musicianship and a wildly shrieking vocalist. Those things push Hibria over the edge when they're occupying songs that are written as wildly and frantically as their playing requires, but most of this album sounds like five extremely talented dudes thrashing futilely against their chains, desperately trying to break out of the cliches of their chosen genre but utterly failing to do so thanks to their misappropriation of said talents. The batfuck insane bass runs are always entertaining but they work so much better in a track like "Steelord on wHeels" where the rest of the band is losing their shit and the song itself is flying off the rails than on a track like "Hispeed Breakout" where the tempo is dialed back and the hooks are super basic.

That said, when it works, it works. One thing that I absolutely adore about the band is how showy and flashy they are. The good songs work so well because they're flashy in the sense that they're surrounded by dozens of popping flashbulbs from a horde of screaming paparazzi while Marco Panichi does fifteen backwards handsprings down the red carpet while simultaneously playing Yngwie Malmsteen arpeggios on his bass with his teeth. The opening trinity do this amazingly well, even on "Change Your Life Line" where the song itself isn't quite as insane as the other two. They sound like they're having the time of their lives, heads spinning like a top while they jump around like chimpanzees. That's the real distinction between the good and lame songs to me. There's so much more life in any of the four good tracks than the other five combined. I realize it's kind of a cop out to just say "I like these songs more" when they're fundamentally not all that different, but that's the magic of songwriting for ya. Sometimes you assemble the same parts in a slightly different way and create something magical. Sometimes you write Running Wild with half the charisma replaced with a ton of bass notes like "A Kingdom to Share", sometimes you write Running Wild mainlining adrenaline and meth and lighting your feet on fire like "Meelenyum Quast". Special shoutout goes to the cymbal hits that sound like a fucking sleigh bell in the verses of "Change Your Life Line".

Overall I'd say I still enjoy Defying the Rules, but it's with a huge fuckin' asterisk next to that statement. The less good songs aren't bad as much as they're just not fully realized. I've heard the good songs, I know how good they can be, so I know with just a bit of tweaking this could've been one of the best albums of the decade. There are flaws all over the place, and whether or not they overcome them depends entirely on which song it is. Iuri Sanson has a huge high ceiling on his range and sometimes he can belt out amazing high notes, other times it sounds like "The Faceless in Chahge" and he just sounds like he's struggling to maintain any power. The solos fluctuate from exceedingly impressive to excessive and unnecessary, the songs range from maddeningly catchy to frustratingly dull, it's just all over the place despite the pieces always being there.

Also, side note, one time I was listening and singing along to this while driving and absolutely nailed the climactic high note in "Steelord on wHeels" and have never replicated it since. My friends still give me shit fifteen years later about that high note I toooootally hit that one time when nobody was there to verify it. The world is unfair.


Originally written for Lair of the Bastard

From start to finish, this album is a fucking blast. With Defying the Rules, Hibria takes the listener on a relentless rip-roaring ride from the opening note to the closing drum blast. They produce a glorious blend of classic headbanging riffs, driving beats, soaring melodies. Their genre is primarily speed, in the vein of early Iron Maiden and Enforcer, but with a certain symphonic grandiosity all their own.

The album is a congruous whole, while the tracks are various enough to keep the listener's interest. Composition is tight — it's not extraordinarily catchy, in the incessantly-looping-in-the-mind's-ear sense, but highly engaging, coherent, graceful, never rambling or losing focus.

Each musician plays skilfully, as does the band in concert. I wish to call out the bass work in particular — Marco Panichi is a boss who performs a good share of the riffs and breaks out in arpeggios, which is refreshing in a genre replete with bassists in the habit of playing one note repeatedly.

The only weakness the band shows here is their grasp of English: the lyrics are often unidiomatic, and the pronunciation is sometimes baffling (for a few egregious examples, "gateway of fire" sounding like "gay way of fire", or "accomplished" sounding like "a cold bitch"). But it's a minor flaw of an otherwise sterling work.

Weak tracks? There are no weak tracks. There is no filler. There are merely ten consecutive tracks of truly excellent metal. Go get it.

Mind-blowing. Just about every second. The massive and explosive vocal harmony is a key factor in that. Just clutches you by the throat. You can feel the passion and dedication they put into "Defying The Rules". My personal favorite song off of this album is "Living Under Ice". I heard it when I was 11-12-ish and it remains today one of my all time favorite power metal songs. So many "feels" in this album.

The guitar work and solos on this album is of up-most technicality. I read Hibria's bio on Spotify and found out they formed in about 1996, but released their very impressive and explosive debut album, "Defying The Rules", in 2004. During the time they waited, the band had "... refined their talents to a razor-sharp point,...". Boy, does it show that here. Some songs on here use the E-flat tuning, some use standard tuning. I think the choice of tunings for each song was probably essential in the emotion you could feel listening to the song and directly conveys the epicness of the power metal genre.

I noticed that each instrument (guitar I, guitar II, bass, drums, vocals) had an interesting, technical, and entertaining part. I enjoyed listening to every instrument. Usually, one might write an easy, basic bass part to a song, but not Hibria. 'Nuff said.

In closing, this isn't just on my top 10 favorite power metal albums, but just in general, one of my favorite albums in all of music.

Wow, this is cheesy as fuck with some of the most retarded lyrics ever. But it's intense as fuck. Probably some of the best power metal ever, even better than anything ever released by Angra. Sadly, Hibria only produced one great album, their other releases are over-produced crap.

As for the instruments, they are mixed perfectly, with a good balance. The vocals have a great presence, but this is common in the cheese metal, but it's not too high like other bands. The singer's style is full of wails and he doesn't deviate much from that. The guitars' tone is light, not quite buzzsaw, but not heavy either, it's very well done. This tone is perfect for the riffage and soloing that occurs on this album. The drums are nice and fast, some odd percussion can be heard on "Change your life line". The bass is godlike. If you're a bassist, get this fucking album, and learn how to play bass, rather than just follow the rhythm guitars. This should be in any power metal fan's collection as reference on how to do everything right. The shitty lyrics are excused as their first language is not english, same with me, but it's really horrible.

The album is as said earlier is intense from start to finish. The song structures are quite catchy and simple as some have said, but with some technicality applied; in other words the best of both worlds. The result, we have a pretty darn consistent album, if a gun was placed to my head to pick the best song, the title tracks gets it.

A lot of good things have been said of Hibria's Defying the Rules, and having finally gotten around to giving it a try I'd say most of them are justified too. If you like your power metal with blistering riffwork and that irresistable energy that insists you join in, this should sit well with you. It's nothing original, no, but I've never really been overly fussed about that. Originality is something worth acknowledging and praising, but it doesn't automatically make music good (I'm looking at you, Unexpect). Likewise, if a band is playing something well enough to make the listener feel something, then it's a success.

Originality (or lack thereof) aside, Defying the Rules is a non-stop ride of epic choruses, strong riffs and steel-clad vocals, all the usual ingredients to good power metal. In particular it's got a lot of that speed metal/NWOBHM class to it, that ever-so-slightly rough edge to temper the more epic qualities, centred around riffs rather than symphonies. Riot's Thundersteel comes to mind a lot of the time, epic while just shying away from being -too- epic and coming out cheesy. "Defying the Rules" and "Steel Lord on Wheels" in particular are the sort of anthems that are so intense and empassioned you just can't resist them.

My one real complaint would be that it can be a bit much to take all in one go. Never letting up can be good, but it can also get a little draining when it's this kind of in-your-face style. The vocals in particular suffer from Michael Kiske Syndrome: yes, he can do epic cries, but those lose their effectiveness when that's -all- he ever does. The final track is the only slight exception, but still, a break from the epicness would have been welcome somewhere in there, and also help to distinguish things a little.

So all told, a solid power metal album that quite unashamedly pays tribute to the greats like Blind Guardian and Gamma Ray. There are better and/or more original offerings around, but there are also plenty of worse ones.

Hibria made a big splash in the underground Metal scene back in 2004 and '05, and then promptly disappeared, leaving no trace as they blazed off on their steel-spiked motorcycles, whipping their chains in the air as they proudly sang "Steel Lord On Wheels" straight off into the horizon. Well, it's been four years since then, and the raging tide of fanaticism has quelled into a calmer water with detractors coming out of the woodwork and the general opinion smoothing out into a more regular sheen. Well, sure, this isn't as good as everyone said it was back then, but does that mean this isn't good? Fuck no, are you crazy?

Defying the Rules is an album that comes straight from the heart of Metal fandom. I mean, just look at this thing, even the front cover, depicting a muscular man with long hair and black leather riding a motorcycle and fighting a ninja off with a katana, spells it right out for you: I AM REALLY FUCKING METAL, it shouts. This album was made to cater to the Metal crowd, by Metal fans and for Metal fans all the way through. How else could you interpret this? The riffs are plentiful, and there are more of them on this album than there have been in Symphorce's entire career, the vocals are a high-pitched, steely wail, the drumming is fast and bludgeoning, the bass is a sizzling, crackling, uncoiling snakelike whine and the production puts everything right in the front where it should be. There are no ballads, no silly interludes and no deviations from the straight-ahead onslaught. It pays its tributes to Metal's old days a la Maiden and Painkiller-era Priest and does them up with a healthy helping of galloping, crunchy German Power Metal and even some Lost Horizon-esque Prog stylings have been craftily hidden beneath the slayage. Defying the Rules is loud, proud and completely fucking Metal all the way, and it knows that, and the band will exploit it every step of the way while they still have this youthful vigor about them.

So, basically, if you didn't read that, then I will sum it up by saying that Defying the Rules is the aural equivalent to being hit in the face by a huge sledgehammer adorned with leather and spikes alike. That may sound like a bad thing to people who don't really understand the allure of Heavy Metal, but in this case, it isn't. Trust me on that.

So, how good are the actual songs here? Well, they're insanely good. This is actually some of the most blistering, complex, dynamic and completely energetic and exuberant Power Metal out there, matching and surpassing the likes of DragonForce with complete ease, and every song has a clear identity, even despite the breakneck speed the whole thing gallops along with. Therein lies this album's chief flaw, as well (for I might as well mention it now, rather than later) - it is simply exhausting to listen to a lot of the time. There is always so much going on here, so much speed and virtuosity and technicality, and what is in evidence the band's biggest strength also becomes their biggest weakness. It isn't a huge weakness, as the band still sounds so damn good that you probably won't care when you are in the mood for this album, but it's definitely worth noting. This is just exhausting, being so fast and visceral that it's actually tiring to listen to at times, if one is not in the mood for it. Some of the songs feel too long, too. But even then, I still like them!

So, where was I. The individual songs? Well, they all rule, in short. If I am to give a more detailed response, well, we kick off with the blazing, straightforward "Steel Lord On Wheels," which rips out with killer Painkiller-esque leads and riffs, and...well, the band never lets up after that. "Change Your Life Line" has some killer, razor-sharp melodies that sear and chill with a furious intricacy. "Millennium Quest" is a high-octane blazer with so many different things going on at once that your head will spin. "A Kingdom to Share" has great, trilling guitar-work and a catchy chorus that rivals anything Helloween and Edguy have written lately. "Living Under Ice" is a gallop through Maiden country with this cool, frigid atmosphere that I just love. The title track and "High Speed Breakout" are more full-speed-ahead slayage, with the latter being my pick for best song on this thing, and then we get the stomping, sinister epic "The Faceless in Charge." The album closes on a high note with the introspective and musically intricate "Stare At Yourself," and leaves you wanting more. The band moves as a pulsating, living and breathing force, just tearing down all the walls of sound and having a damn good time while doing so.

Hibria are Metal. By the sound of this album, that is exactly what they want to be. This is cool not only for musical reasons, but because this band just exudes innocence and purity, in the way that they want nothing more to create music, have fun and make Metal fans happy. This is musically honest and ridiculously fun and headbangable (well, some of it is; a lot of it is too fast for that!), and for a smashing good time, Defying the Rules literally does defy any conventions or expectations you might have had as a listener.

…of cheesy power metal is not good enough, I’m afraid. Even though I really wanted to enjoy this album more, I just couldn’t do it. Frankly, “Defying the Rules” demonstrates the affliction of melodic power metal better than any album I can think of precisely because of the talent Hibria’s instrumentalists demonstrate – the problem is clearly not a problem of instrumental skill but of songwriting and production. Nonetheless, I can understand why this album has garnered such praise: the band does a good job of giving the impression of creativity. No matter how well this band tries to conceal it, I can’t help but notice the shallowness of the music.

Having picked the fight, I’ve got to make this musical analysis damned good. The first problem I’d like to point out, a major pet peeve of mine, is that the songwriting is based very heavily on chord progressions. No matter how much the band tries to obscure it by adding non-essential frills to their music, they really don’t have any riffs. This seems to have gone largely unnoticed because Hibria likes to jump around in a little bit in between chords and arpeggiate chords rather than chugging away at chords and root notes. Then again, it’s not uncommon in power metal to fall into this error, and I grant that Hibria has slightly better (or, at least, longer) chord progressions.

However, most of the songs on the album rely on only a couple of chord progressions making them seem repetitive, generic, and, above all, powerless. Let’s not forget that RIFFS are one of the foundations of heavy metal, especially in its more traditional styles. Without them, metal doesn't feel as 'heavy.' Thus, while it is not a cardinal sin to lack definite guitar riffs, as a metalhead, it definitely hinders my enjoyment of the album. Besides, it’s pretty easy to churn out seemingly infinite chord progressions with a little musical training, which makes this album even less impressive; for all their wankery, most of the songs on this album have simplistic song structures.

Simplistic song structures alone aren’t really enough to justify my rating, though. Plenty of landmark albums have them. Combined with a pretty static texture, though, my rating starts to take a bit more of a hit. Unfortunately, this album just sounds generic. Basically, every song seems to be written in the same key and the production seems to go out of its way to cut out every frequency that could make the guitars sound fuller and more satisfying. I can understand wanting a really clean guitar tone, but that doesn’t mean that the tone can’t be rich. An overly tame guitar tone neuters this album, and the vocalist, who sounds neutered already, only contributes to the problem. He’s got your typical thin, uninflected, tame power metal voice.

I won’t stop there, though. Not only are the guitars and vocals pretty static, but their melodic sensibility is generic. Their leads and hooks tend to rely too heavily on melodies that are repeated, even if they are transposed a step or two. The solos are simply too cheesy and soulless to hit home. (They may be better than Dragonforce, but they nevertheless suffer from the same disease.) Of course, the vocal melodies are no exception; the vocalist’s style is straightforward and simplistic.

Not only are the melodies and textures as simple and generic as your average pop song or nursery rhyme, the album suffers from a complete lack of rhythmic variation. You won’t find any interesting drum fills, or uninteresting drum fills for that matter, on this album, with the exception of “Steel Lord on Wheels” and “Defying the Rules,” both of which are much better songs than the rest of the album. Generally speaking, though, the drums just pound away at a fairly high tempo. Unfortunately, though, speed isn’t very interesting on its own; rhythmic variety makes it interesting. Likewise, the guitars and vocals are uninflected, giving the impression that a computer wrote and performed most of the songs on the album.

As a result of these flaws, the album just feels overlong. Most of these songs strike me as filler, as though the band wrote enough for a demo or EP but had to release a full-length album. That said, this band isn’t as horribly offensive to me as most ‘powerless power metal’ is. In fact, the reason I reviewed this album is because, while it has moments of glory, particularly “Steel Lord on Wheels,” when Hibria seems to overcome all my criticisms, I expected a lot more from an album with an average of 96%. I expected a masterpiece; what I found instead was a mediocre, barely listenable album. I found myself tapping my feet on rare occasions but almost never did I feel the impulse to bang my head. The point is just that, for anyone other than power metal enthusiasts, this album contains a couple of kick-ass songs and a lot of filler.

Seriously, I find myself fascinated by this album as much as Gollum is by The Ring. I've been listening to Defying The Rules for about a year or so now and I simply can't stay away from it! Everything here is so rich, so powerful, so METAL! I love how Hibria managed to gather influences from power/traditional/progressive and speed metal and blend all that into one single heavy metal masterpiece. I listen to this and I am like "Hmmm... there's some Maiden here,.... or Ahh... this is some good old Judas Priest". Taking into consideration that nowadays a good true metal album is as rare as the Comet Halley, I would say that this (the influences) sounds more than fine to me! I've been listening to metal for about 18 years and I can tell you , I miss the old stuff!

Obviously nothing here would be that great if it wasn't for the musicians. I've seen people bitching about everything they can, "Ohhhh but *insert name here* is a so much better guitar player" or "XXX sings better..." Wah, wah, wah... WHO FUCKING CARES? This is not a competition about who is better or not! This is about who is able to create good music! I hate prog/tech metal fans because they think every goddamn song has to sound like a fucking orgy of sound notes!

If there's one thing that I love about this album is the vocals. Boy, does that guy sing! Iuri can easily reach high notes and can surely do a raspier and more aggressive/powerful style. He is your typical Power Metal singer but he doesn't sound like he's got his balls cut off. I would compare his style (style, NOT voice tone) to Tim "Ripper" Owens'. Although Juggulator wasn't a great Judas Priest album, I love Tim Owens' part on it.

I am not a musician so I cannot technically elaborate a more precise comment on the guitars and the bass. Although I said above that this is not quite the best dish for progressive fans, I can say that the guitar/bass package here is incredibly good and well executed! They are in fact the living force, the powerhouse behind Hibria. Just listen to the guitar duets and solos on the amazing song Millennium Quest or the ballad-like riffs of Living Under Ice and judge by yourself. And backing all this up you have the drums, which always keep the fast pace going. I do agree with some people that there's not a lot of variation coming from the drummer but I believe this is quite exactly what makes this album special, that appealing old school vibe.

Summing it all up, if you like power/traditional metal, you MUST buy this album if you haven't yet! I can say for sure that Defying the Rules has become one of my all-time favorite albums! Every praising you've seen here or anywhere else is not exaggeration or bullshit! Can't wait for the next album.... Hail HIBRIA!

This album makes it's place among the greatest metal debuts ever written. No album has quite floored me like this one on a first listen. Now that I have over a year to digest it and the initial craze is over, is it really worth 100%? No, to give it 100% would be to presume that it is a perfect album. Even though it may not be perfect, it comes extremely close.

Formed in Brazil nearly 12 years ago they sought to create the most metal fucking album them could. The most talented musicians of their metal scene came together and did nothing but write, craft, and perfect! Great albums can be created in a single year, it has been proven. Defying the Rules was not created in a single year though. 8 year of writing, crafting and perfecting from musicians of the highest order. This is what created Defying the Rules. This is what makes the ultimate metal album. The riffs are catchy and memorable, they are warm with the feel of the great 80’s sound, warm like a bright flame that burns when you look into it. The solos are technical but not wankery, long but not tiresome, and beautiful. The drums are supportive of the guitar. The drums are played with talent but do not attempt to outshine the guitar but simply make it sound better. The drums succeed. The bass is also very noteworthy. Many metal bands try to hide the bass, Hibria does not and for good reason. Hibira has an exquisite bassist who is even given the chance to shine through solos found on a couple of tracks. The vocals soar, the lyrics are original, and the choruses are catchy. His words and wisdom and voice will remain in your head long after you have listened to the album, and it’s a good thing. Hibira takes all these things and puts them together in a way no other band could. They create and album so beautiful so memorable and so powerful that it has become an instant classic.

Some people say Hibria is power metal. I agree with them, Hibria is indeed very powerful. Before I heard this album, I didn’t know metal could be this good. Hibria have destroyed the old metal world and created one a new. A new world, or kingdom if you will. This kingdom is a kingdom to share. My friends, listen to my words and share in this with me.

The album starts out with an awesome riff on "Steel Lord on Wheels" with soaring vocals and drums hammering down, annihilating everything in sight. The first song itself hints about the things to come. The next song "Change your life line" proceeds in the same vein while "Millenium Quest" has great bass solo in the middle to complement the rest.

One thing that stands out beyond the great instrumentation and vocals is the production on the album which is quite brilliant to say the least considering that this is their debut album. Every instrument can be clearly heard, even the bass. This is not one of those bands who are ashamed to show their bassist off. Also, the songwriting is exquisite and none of the songs get boring even though most of them hit the 5:00 mark consistently.

Back to the song review, now comes IMO one of the best power metal songs to be ever written with a brilliant bass solo to begin with and a thunderous and catchy riff which serves as the backbone for the entire song. The guitar solo is also very prominent and the chorus will stick in your head forever. Next comes "Living under Ice" which is a bit ballad-like but Hibria know how to keep it short and effective. The title song "Defying the rules" starts of with cool drum solo and then an ultra fast riff which grabs you by your genitals and does not relent till the end, although there is a slow bass/vocal bridge in between. Then comes "The Faceless In Charge" (which has the best bass/guitar solo of all) and "High Speed Breakout" which are also equally effective and scream heavy metal from the word go. Hibria wanted to keep their progressive songwriting for the last song "Stare at your Yourself" which has moments of total brilliance with perfect time changes throughout. It is a progressive without being total guitar wankery. This album proves with each song that one does not need endless guitar or drum solos to demonstrate technical ability, the creativity, songwriting and precise instrumentation prove that without being explicit.

This is one of my favourite power metal albums alongside BG's "Imaginations from the other side", Helloween's "Keeper of the seven keys II", Lost Horizon's "Awakening the world", Kamelot's "Fourth Legacy", Jag Panzer's "Ample Destruction" etc.

Best features of the album include soaring vocals, excellent riffs and leads throughout the album, cool basslines with occassional bass solos, great drumming with nice fills and no overuse of double bass and no keyboards (People who like keyboards in their daily dosage of metal stay away from this one(stratovarius, sonata arctica anyone)).

I'll deduct 3 points nonetheless for a bit of lyrical immaturity although the concept behind the album is ok (not a big fan of fantasical themes).
Tip: Turn up the volume for best results.

...not. Well, on one hand I regret breaking the perfect score for this album; it truly is a masterpiece of modern metal. On the other, I don't think it is perfect, but then I haven't found an album yet that is.

I picked up Defying the Rules on the basis of the unaninimous praise for it, fully sure that it could not be as good as the heaps of commendations piled upon it. And for the first few runs I didn't like it that much. The singer grated on me slightly and none of the songs grabbed me. For some reason, maybe the excessive praise, maybe an inkling of the genius within, I kept it cycling through my cd player and the brilliance of this cd finally hit me. I can now unreservedly call this among the best albums I have heard from the new millenium.

I still find the singer slightly annoying, not because he lacks in the vocals department, in fact he is absolutely amazing, but because he has a weird lilt to his voice, perhaps from his South American heritage. Nothing major, and sometimes it is actually amusing. Secondly, the guitar production could have been a little heavier and slightly more distinct. Not to say it is lacking it would have just taken this album to even grander heights, in my opinion.

But enough nitpicking. If the previous reviews haven't convinced you to try this album, then I probably can't. I will still add my voice to the choir of praise and say that everything comes together for this album—powerful riffage, soaring vocals and tons of variety in both. In fact, sometimes they go overboard with weird tangents that sound awesome, but diverge too much from the song. Oh yes, and the solos are those rare kind where after a few listens you can almost remember them note for note in all their beautiful splendor. Absolutely amazing stuff.

Defying the Rules will not spawn any new genres of metal, but we can only hope it draws a lot of imitators. Because this is power metal that drank deeply from the molten depths of ass-kicking.

If the first three reviews here didn't already get your attention, I'll just continue to phase. To start us off, this is quite simply put one of the best damn albums I've ever heard in my life. This is pure speed. Pure power. Pure agility. Pure skill. I've been constanly buying CD's within this last year alone, and this one really blew me away. This is such a strong debut, that I'd already rank them as one of my favorite bands, up there with Gamma Ray, Iron Savior, Judas Priest, to name a few. And even getting into so many bands, buying so many albums, I was just inspired to write a review for this band (marking my first review).

Explaining the style of this band without just saying "Kick ass" gets tough. Right off the bat, I couldn't help but think of Racer X. Even the vocals from Sanson are very much like Martin's, but even better and more trained. The speed is definitely there too, but this band has an incredible style and progression within its songs with the solos, build ups, vocals, and lyrics that remind me a lot of Gamma Ray. The technical aspect and perfection with the flow of the music here just blows me away. None of these songs get boring. None of them are predictable, the build ups, solo progressions, licks, riffs, and everything are full of surprises and twists that will keep you interested in what to expect next.

Sometimes, there's some bands and albums out there that require me to listen to them a few times over before the liking sinks in. That, was not the case for Hibria here. I was instantly captured, and had to hear the entire album. And I never got bored, and just kept asking myself "Is this real?".

Favorite tracks? I honestly can't pick one. I'll try listening to the album to decide that and just keep thinking I like this one, then that one more, then that one, and so forth. They are all fast, all unique, and all powerful.

Simply put, I think this album is absolutely flawless. And that goes a long way coming from me, as I could probably only say that for a few Gamma Ray and Helloween albums out there. This album alone, ranks this band high on my list of favorites. And I am absolutely looking forward to the future of this band, and what more they could have in store for us. Like some said, it could be hard to top this album from here on, but I'm sure with the amount of energy they show and just how powerful this is, they could pull it off.

In the end, I believe if you are a fan of heavy metal with serious speed (and style!, unlike a bunch of bands out there like Dragonforce and what have you), Progressive Metal, Power, technical, shred, highly traditional, and bands like Gamma Ray, Iron Savior, Racer X, Helloween, Judas Priest, Lost Horizon, Impellitteri, you'll fall in love with this gem. Do not miss out on this!

Well I have listening to this album for about 2 months almost every day, and I am still speechless, Defying the rules is without a doubt the best album that I have heard this year, all in this 50 minute masterpiece, kicks serious ass (even the intro), this band is so tight, that most bands out there (good ones too) are just are dreaming of getting their quality.

Hibria says that their influences are ranging from Iron Maiden to Metallica, Helloween, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Racer-x, Manowar and Dream Theater. You may argue that most bands that play heavy of some form states the bands above as their influences, but this guys has that special extra (like Requiem said before) that separate good bands, from genre leaders.

Take for example Steel Lord on Wheels, it has amazing killers riffs, incredible bass lines, insane double bass pedal and unbelievable and I mean out of this world vocal work, Iuri Sanson become my all time favorite singer about in song 2 and he never lost his quality during the whole album.

The solos are all over the songs and I don’t mean only guitar solos you have great drums solos (Defying the Rules) and even the bass get out of his usual work of covering to make some pretty good solo parts (Kingdom to Share).

This album aren’t just a bunch of fast songs it also displays some really nice mid-tempos with nice prog arrangements (Stare at yourself, Living under Ice), which also are completely breathtaking.

I have to agreed to the fact that this sound a bit like Iron Savior, but this is like a lot more interesting and better written all the way. All of this in their debut album, fuck! I wonder how are they going to top this but in the meantime you got to listen to this. I know what are you thinking “they cannot be that good” but trust me, I was skeptical at first but this album changes your live line, if you are into speed, power or heavy metal of some kind you need this album, buy it now, thank me later.

Once upon a time I was just blown away when I listenned "The Number of the Beast" record from Iron Maiden, and "Master of Puppets" from Metallica, for the first time... There is something in those records, wich makes you want to listen the entire record, and when it finishes, then you want to listen the whole thing again... People can it "classic albums". Well, only a few records has this "something wich makes you want to listen again, and again, never getting bored of the stuff... In my opinion, "Defying the Rules" can be considered as a classic, just for being strongly influenced by bands like Iron Maiden, but sounding original.

This record shows the Steel Lord's journey, who's the main caracther of a history wich has began in 2001, when the "Steel Lord on Wheels" single has been released. Steel Lord fights for the freedom against the tyrant Facelless. So, that's what the whole record is about: the strugle for freedom.

The record starts with an amazing instrumental introduction, with a beautiful guitar lead. It reminded me the song "The Ides of March" of the Killers album, from Iron Maiden. Nice beggining. After this, came "Steel Lord on wheels". I just can't tell why I cannot stop listenning to this song... The guitar solos are also amazing, showing a monster lot of feeling. After this came the track "Change Your Life Line" with a great chorus. "Millenium Quest", "A Kingdom to Share" and "Living Under Ice" are also amazing songs... They just get inside your mind, and those songs won't go away. "Defying the Rules", "Faceless in Charge", "High Speed Breakout", and "Stare At Yourself" finish this record with golden key.