Theandric - Up The Irons (2011) - More than just a great tribute - 80% (07/10/11)

Theandric is a classic epic heavy metal one man band with lyrics that are normally influenced by the Catholic religion as can be heard on the enjoyable, epic, sacral and diversified harmony filled gem "Adoro Te Devote". Normally, I'm not a fan of white metal issues but this particular song is eventually acceptable and shows us the whole talent of the band that let us hope for an upcoming full length release. But this album doesn't worship God; it worships the British gods of heavy metal with the epic "Up The Irons". And this homage actually works very well.

Musically, we have some galloping bass lines, different kinds of melodic guitar solos and catchy vocals. The whole thing is put into a song with epic and atmospheric passages as well as great sing along parts and some energizing fake live passages. The most addicting thing is though the lyrics. It's not always easy to mix metal with humour and the last album of Edguy proves us that this kind of experiments can horribly wrong. Our promising newcomer Theandric does though a surprisingly great job. I really laughed out loud when he came along with funny choruses, original and sometimes sarcastic descriptions of each band member and some amusing narrative passages about the world of Iron Maiden. He forgot to sing a little bit about Eddie though. Theandric employs just the right amount of humour and doesn't drift into ridiculous or childish attempts. The song might not be addicting for people that don't know much about Iron Maiden but as every true metal fan should praise this legend most people will also enjoy this track not only musically but especially lyrically. The instrumental version proves once again that Theandric got a lot of talent. He wanted to copy the style of Iron Maiden for the two title tracks but the other song proves that they also have different influences and are on the right lane to find and establish their very own style.

Anybody that likes diversified, epic and still classic heavy metal and doesn't have a problem with Iron Maiden or religious issues should purchase this record and support this promising newcomer. Get this album and enjoy one of the best epic heavy metal hymns of the year. Honestly, this is better than any Iron Maiden cover song I have ever heard and worth to be checked out by all true metal fans out there. Up the Irons!