Unification

Iron Savior | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 16, 1999)
• Original Release Date: March 16, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Noise
• ASIN: B00000I7XL
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,705 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Iron Savior... saving metal as we know and love it., June 9, 2000

By 

Jeff - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unification (Audio CD)

Of the three Iron Savior releases to date, this one is by far the strongest. In Unification, Iron Savior finally finds the sound that seperates them from Gamma Ray and Helloween. This CD is equall to or maybe even outshines most of the releases by the two biggest European Power Metal bands. Iron Savior is a newcomer to the scene, but they are showing some of the old boys how it should be done (Wake up Metallica / Megadeth!).

The guitars, drums, Lyrics... everything about this album are simply stunning. In fact, the only weak songs on the album take place at the end where Savior is covering tracks by other bands!

I definately recommend all of the Iron Savior albums to any power-metal fan. However, Unification has a speciall place even above the other two (so far). Also, pay attention to the story line. This is how sci-fi should be... move over Star Wars: Episode I.

In response to "Bah, so-so" boy down below: I have to respect his opinion, although I totally disagree. The tracks tend to blur together my skinny power-metal posterior! Is that why I go nuts every time I hear the intro to "Forces of Rage" and why I strike a dramatic pose in expentance of Kai Hansens vocals on "Deadly Sleep"? Each original track on this CD is a masterpiece in its own right and advances the story with power, finesse, and style. I wish their were more bands playing like this today.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How good can it get ?, September 3, 2002

By 

banulla (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unification (Audio CD)

This album is absolutely one of the best in its genre ,
no flaws or glitches , just straight ahead melodic metal
with guitar playing extraordinaire ( Kai Hansen from
Helloween .....) and singing by one of Germanys most
skilled and mature metal vocalists today ( which especially
will please those of you who get a headache from the
countless numbers of overpitched castrate singers in
power metal ).
Songwriting is top and the singalong potential is doubtless
comparative to Helloweens better albums , only Iron Saviour is
much more melodic and refined - really , really great !!!

4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful Metal!, January 9, 2009

By 

Justin Gaines (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unification (Audio CD)

I picked up the Iron Savior debut about ten years ago when I was in a major power metal phase, and for whatever reason it failed to move me. I hadn't given the band any further thought until I caught their live set at 2008's ProgPower USA festival. I left that set amazed at just how good Iron Savior's brand of melodic power metal really was, so when I ran across a copy of the band's 1999 album Unification, I decided to give them another chance.

Unification definitely lines up with what I experienced seeing Iron Savior live. It's an extremely professional, heavy hitting, highly melodic power metal album with some absolutely incredible vocals by Piet Sielk. I didn't realize just how heavily Helloween/Gamma Ray founder Kai Hansen was involved in Iron Savior at the time, so hearing his familiar voice (not to mention the killer guitar work) was reassuring. I'm not so keen on the sci-fi fixation, but I guess you can't sing about dragons and swords all the time.

Unification is the kind of muscular, old school power metal album that you can really sink your teeth into. More leather and spikes than flowing shirts and crowns (cough, Rhapsody, cough), it never seems quite as cheesy as power metal can sometimes be (cough, Hammerfall, cough). Covers of "Gorgar" (Helloween) and "Neon Knights" (Black Sabbath) were nice nods to the old school, though closing song "Dragonslayer", a song by folk metal band Excelsis, was an odd choice. Iron Savior's version of "Neon Knights" was particularly powerful with those vocal harmonies and backing vocals. As silly as this sounds, if the Nelson brothers ever released a power metal album it would probably sound like this.

I'm happy to admit that I was wrong about Iron Savior, and I know this will not be the last of their albums that I buy.