Conquer All Fear

The last FireWölfe album I reviewed, We Rule the Night, was OK, nothing groundbreaking in the world of melodic metal, just a nondescript release among a sea of similar releases. Their 2021 album, Conquer All Fear, is better. The band sounds a lot more comfortable with the melodic metal format and the songwriting is improved, especially the lyrics which are not as simplistic as on We Rule the Night. The vocals, courtesy of new singer Freddy Krumins, are much better suited to the style than the last guy, powerful with a bit of grit, and the guitars have a good combination of crunch and melody. FireWölfe have shifted in a European direction with their sound and serve up a nice mix of faster, power metal songs like "Vicious as the Viper" and "Pedal to the Metal" and slower, introspective (though not truly ballads) cuts like "Swallow My Pride." There are no real weak songs, but nothing that jumps out and gives Conquer All Fear a signature, it is just a solid collection of enjoyable melodic/power metal. If you are into bands like Silent Force, Mob Rules, Secret Sphere, etc., you’ll probably find FireWölfe are worth a listen.