Tearing Up the World

Ah, the sweet sounds of double-kick drums and sustained major chords. I first ran across Guardians of Time when I was getting back into metal in the early 2000s. I was diving head first into power metal and picked up a copy of Machines of Mental Design. I can't remember much about it other than I liked it, but I never followed up on any of the band's subsequent releases until their fifth album, Tearing Up the World hit my review queue. The songs are laid out along the prototypical power metal blueprint with the aforementioned manic bass drums and big riffs supporting bigger choruses and keyboards that round out the sound. The band breaks no rules but has been at this for a sufficiently long time to know you can't just throw those things in a blender and pour out something fans want. The songwriting is sharp, if not inventive, and choruses are easily picked up and shouted along with by the second time they roll around. This is especially true of "Raise the Eagle," "Kingdom Come" and "Brothers of the North." Guest appearances by Abbath ("Tearing Up the World") and Tim "Ripper" Owens ("As I Burn") are nice touches. Tearing Up the World is solid and should be welcomed by power metal fans of every stripe.