Celebrating past accomplishments in a fresh way - A review of Galneryus' The IronHearted Flag, Volume One: Regeneration Side

Ten years had passed between Japanese progressive power metal group Galneryus' first studio album and this wonderful release. The band had already accomplished much in those ten years, including the release of eight studio albums, nine extended plays and three singles. Since the group had also gone through an important line-up change on vocals three years prior to this release, Galneryus decided to offer two records where the band would cover its own songs from the early years and reinvent them. This is the first of these two albums. The courageous approach works very well because it has been executed with seriousness, since the different band members are technically skilled musicians and due to the excellent chemistry between the five members.

The IronHearted Flag, Volume One: Regeneration Side offers ten songs with a total running time of sixty-three minutes. As if that weren't enough, this release comes around with a bonus DVD featuring ten recently recorded live songs. The great thing is that the ten live songs are different ones than the ten studio tunes which means that you essentially get a compilation of twenty songs that showcase everything this band has been and still is about.

Let's point out a few select highlight to exemplify the band's typical trademarks. ''Rebel Flag'' is an imaginative power ballad with neoclassical keyboard sounds, melodic guitar play, steady rhythm section and passionate vocals varying from lower registers in the verses to high-pitched sections in the chorus. ''Point of No Return'' on the other side is more on the epic side with extensive instrumental sections and a more galloping rhythm that finds the right mixture between heavy, power, progressive and symphonic metal elements. ''Fate of the Sadness'' is a few notches slower and focuses on a gloomy but resilient atmosphere carried by expressive vocals and the excellent use of extensive instrumental sections where even the bass guitar can shine with a sinister solo spot.

If you combined the greatest moments of DragonForce, Helloween and Stratovarius with Japanese work ethic, chirurgical precision and a progressive note, then you might have a very good idea of what Galneryus' The IronHearted Flag, Volume One: Regeneration Side sounds like.

At the end of the day, the risks taken by the band in this ambitious project certainly pay off. The IronHearted Flag, Volume One: Regeneration Side is an excellent summary of the band's incredible career and should please fans of old date just as much as potential new supporters. Japanese imports are rather expensive but here you get ten studio versions and ten different live songs on DVD for a fairly reasonable price of roughly thirty dollars. Anyone who appreciates progressive power metal of the European type should give this release a fair chance.

Final rating: 80%