III is, naturally, the third full-length album from Greece's Dexter Ward and my first exposure to them. Based on Sargon's reviews of their first two albums, what I'm hearing on III sounds like a mix of the traditional metal of Neon Lights and the epic music on Rendezvous with Destiny. Tracks like "Return of the Blades" and "Conan the Barbarian" are ass-kicking, fist-pumping anthems with chugging riffs, pounding drums and vocal hooks aplenty. "In the Days of Epic Metal" and "The Eyes of Merlin" finds the band letting up on the gas and opting for a less crowded song structure which gives the vocals and soaring guitars room to really breathe. There isn't a bad track on the album with solid performances and songwriting throughout. If you like early Manowar and Warlord and, of course, Battleroar, this is an album you need to own.
