By Jonny Bakes
Another year has rolled around and it’s time to get stuck into what offerings are available to us in the year 2023. As it is still pretty dark and bleak, I think that the perfect cure is a hearty dose of power metal, and what better way to start things off by revisiting a band who came to my attention at the tail end of 2021? On that day the EP that landed before me, ‘Into Glory Ride’, was my first introduction to Crom and was certainly a successful one with it sneaking into my top EPs of the year. Naturally when I was offered the opportunity to get an early listen to the follow up full length album, I simply couldn’t resist!
‘The Era Of Darkness’ will hit the streets on Friday the 13th, which may be unlucky for some but ,with the strength of this album, this should be no issue for Crom. The album takes everything that I enjoyed about the previous EP and builds upon it (whilst re-using some of the content) to deliver another great power metal album that could be likened to Tÿr. You’ll find catchy and energetic melodies aplenty which provide the springboard to launch the high vocals of Crom himself (yes, the band is named after the main man who has been going alone for many years before forming a band around him in 2018 for this new, and exciting era). ‘The Era of Darkness’ is an energetic album that delivers all of my favourite elements of power metal and is seriously catchy so that even if it doesn’t quite float your boat, it’ll more than likely get stuck in your head anyway!
The album opens with ‘Into The Glory Land’ which may sound more than just a little familiar if you picked up the 2021 EP because, yep, it’s the same song as its title track. This is great if you’re new to Crom though, as it’s a belter of a track with Maiden-esque guitars that delivers an effective face kicking from the very start. ‘Into the Glory Land’ is armed with a particularly catchy chorus that became such an earworm that I’m sure I could hear it in my head some days after first listening to the album. The combination of the vocal and guitar melodies just seems to work its way into your subconscious, almost as if it’s a deliberate ploy to ensure that everyone remembers the lyrics because, let’s face it, this one is going to be a bit of a live anthem!
But not everything is upbeat and energetic in this album, as Crom also adopts the power metal ballad into their arsenal with ‘The Forsaken’. This track starts with a foreboding drum beat before opening up onto a muted acoustic guitar to accompany Crom’s vocals which are akin to nordic chanting (which, again, could be likened to Tyr). As the song progresses, we’re also treated to some gruff backing chants that could easily be picked up by a crowd at one of their live performances. ‘The Forsaken’ shows that Crom has further mastered the art of the epic ballad and offers a brief yet welcome lull in what is otherwise a powerful album.
The more I listen to ‘The Era of Darkness’ the more I would like to see this translate into a live performance as I think it has all the ingredients needed to make a pretty impressive show. There’s catchy vocal hooks, shredding guitars, banging rhythms and plenty of opportunity for chanting audience participation. It will appeal to fans of Memories of Old, Majestica, Bathory, Blind Guardian and many more from the power metal bracket. And, considering I am one myself, I think this will also appeal to Sabaton fans due to the vocal similarity to a certain Tommy Johannson.
If you’ve already listened to the 2021 EP ‘Into the Glory Land’ and are worried about repetition, then have no fear as only two tracks from that EP make the cut for this 12 track beast of an album (‘Riding Into The Sun’ is the other) so there’s plenty to get your teeth stuck into
All in all, this album certainly shows that Crom is strong upon his mountain and I’ll be grabbing a copy and keeping my eyes peeled for any potential ÜK appearances!
- ‘The Era Of Darkness’ is released tomorrow (Friday 13 January). You can get your copy HERE.
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