GLORYHAMMER

If nothing else, GLORYHAMMER have always provided some light relief. An inherently ridiculous proposition from the start, the Anglo-American quintet built their reputation on being slightly more preposterous than everybody else, with albums that matched the giddy stupidity of their elaborate concepts with music that was as formidably heavy and sumptuously symphonic as anything else in contemporary metal. One slightly humiliating incident involving a WhatsApp group chat and some casual racism aside, GLORYHAMMER have never tried to provide solutions to humanity's ills, but they have proudly cheered a lot of people up along the way.

The band's second album since the recruitment of current frontman Angus McFife V (multi-octave Cypriot, Sozos Michael),"Space 1993: Wrath Of Kor-Virliath" is also the sequel to their second album, "Space 1992: Rise Of The Chaos Wizards": a certified fan favorite and, until this point, the best record they have put their names to. Anyone expecting a radical sidestep into progressive jazz rock or speaker-busting arena EDM is, to put it mildly, going to be disappointed. GLORYHAMMER are back with more of the absurd and extravagant same, and power metal fans would not accept anything else.

First things first: this is another deranged concept piece, involving multiple galactic battles and a ludicrous storyline involving hordes of demons hurtling through Aberdeen, the subsequent arrival of the Legendary Space Knights of Crail, and a climactic and gargantuan mortal skirmish that will decide the fate of the galaxy. Or something along those lines.

But fear not: paying too much attention to the album's detailed narrative is far from a necessity. Let's just assume that the whole thing is fucking berserk, while basking in the thunderous splendor of GLORYHAMMER's relentlessly upbeat and theatrical take on European power metal. Songs like "Ultimate Sacrifice" and "Die With A Sword In My Hand" are fiendishly catchy and deceptively sophisticated, as Angus McFife V's hearty charisma and fine voice turn every twist and turn into an endearingly daft plot device. The whole thing rattles along with such breathless abandon that it would be hard to keep up with the story anyway, but with lyrics in hand and enough caffeine flowing through your veins, it may just be possible.

After a blizzard of immaculate and impressively demented songs have flown by at great speed, "Space 1993: Wrath Of Kor-Virliath" reaches an apex of goofy grandeur on its vast and overwhelming final track. "The Celestial Warhost Of The Dundonian Marches To Space Against The Dark Sorcerer: Final Assault On Battlemoon X-22" is a 13-minute colossus that may be the most ambitious piece that creative mastermind Christopher "Zargothrax" Bowes (ALESTORM / WIZARDTHRONE) has yet penned. Determinedly cinematic and resolutely over-the-top, it reaffirms that GLORYHAMMER, for all their cross-eyed lunacy, are an incredibly skilled and imaginative metal band, with levels of musicianship and compositional depths that may occasionally get lost in translation, but that are nonetheless immensely admirable and impressive. Change the lyrics to something sensible, and "The Celestial Warhost…" would still be fucking killer. But as it stands, these intergalactic idiots are still masters of much-needed levity and supreme silliness, and their fifth album is another unqualified success, unless you are a miserable prick with no sense of humor. Obviously.