Lancer – Tempest

The first thing hitting me is the loud way the bass guitar is being presented. The drums too, for that matter. Guitar player Fredrik Kelemen seems to have been right in his talk of teamwork. The second thing which hits me is the fine songs, many with the power metal brand, others rather more brotherly with Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Schenker (LANCER’s guitar players are true equilibrists) or Survivor. Songs such as “Entity” or “The grand masquerade” aren’t power metal at all, but rather classic heavy rock, fetched from around 1980. Then again, “Out of the sun” or “Blind faith” are easily recognizable in the vein of Hammerfall, with the novices sometimes stronger than the masters. Reasons for that are two. First, LANCER thoroughly present solid songwriting, brimming with melody and drama. Second, in Jack L. Stroem (also with Vandor), LANCER has found a singer capable to hit notes both high and low, all the way filling the words with emotion and credibility. Just like Bruce Dickinson, he may with acurracy be nicknamed “air raid siren”. Anything less convincing? Well, I guess LANCER wants to create power metal in a not-so-revolutionairy style, so I really can’t complain on that. Band: Lancer…