TWILIGHT FORCE

From the very start, TWILIGHT FORCE made it plain that their ambition knew no limits. On the surface, the Swedes were another symphonically inclined power metal band with a hard-on for the exploration of wild, fantasy realms, with additional LARP-ing possibilities for the truly devoted. Even on their relatively low-budget debut, "Tales of Ancient Prophecies" (2014),the self-styled "adventure metal" crew went further and crazier than the vast majority of their peers, and the sheer joy that they pumped into every sonic crevice made them even harder to resist.

2016's "Heroes of Mighty Magic" was a worthy big label debut, but TWILIGHT FORCE's second album for NUCLEAR BLAST sealed the deal: 2019's "Dawn of the Dragonstar" was an absolute riot, with lethal melodies and berserk arrangements — banjo included, and why not? — by the score. It was that year's most addictive power metal release by some distance and, one could argue, demands a follow-up of even more epic and preposterous proportions.

Here we go, then. TWILIGHT FORCE's fourth full-length album is, it has to be said, even more cheerfully over-the-top than its predecessor. But while the Swedes take some leaps here that make even the opulent high points of previous albums seem overly cautious, this is also the moment where the band really nail the art of the power metal banger. Their first three albums had no shortage of such things, but nothing quite as succinct and lethal as "Twilight Force". Even ignoring the fact that every discerning metal band should have their own theme tune (I refer you to IRON MAIDEN and MANOWAR for further evidence),  it is an immediate, juddering bull's-eye, and of the kind that fully deserves (and demands) to be in TWILIGHT FORCE set lists for evermore. The same can be said for the eccentric "Sunlight Knight" — another sublime demonstration of how to respect a genre's fundamental principles without endlessly repeating old, melodic ideas. Both the intense and overblown title track and the deliriously upbeat "Nightborn" add to a sense that founder/guitarist Philip "Lynd" Lindh has found a way to cram his "more is more" ethos into snappier songs. Bizarrely, these include "Skynights of Aldaria": one of several peaks of orchestral clangor, choral pomp and multi-layered insanity, it crams an insane amount of action into its five-minute duration.

The diehard D&D contingent will be foaming at the mouth in anticipation of this album's inevitable epics, of course. Disappointment will not be forthcoming. In keeping with previous indulgences like "Blade of Immortal Steel" (from "…Dragonstar"),  "Highlands of the Elder Dragon" and "The Last Crystal Bearer" are both utterly mad and come across like showstoppers from some arcane Tolkien-inspired rock opera, with MEATLOAF-levels of fearless flamboyance and a theater-levelling cast of thousands to match. Those with a DISNEY fetish will doubtless love the bonus orchestral versions of "Skynights…" and "The Last Crystal Bearer" even more.

As the late, great Freddie Mercury may or may not have said at some point: if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. TWILIGHT FORCE's continuing adventures remain more absurdly entertaining than most.