Where Madness Dwells

Where Madness Dwells is the fourth album from Ohio’s Ironflame and the band delivers another solid chunk of pure heavy metal. Not as focused on power metal as they were on the last album, Blood Red Victory, Ironflame are leaning toward "true" metal this time around. Sure, they still mash down the gas pedal on tracks like "Ready to Strike," a song that begs for an air guitar solo and has a chorus that Ironflame should hear shouted back from the crowd any time they play it live, but they also slow things down a bit and unleash the rolling thunder. "Everlasting Light" is punchy and purposeful, "A Funeral Within" has a steady, marching beat that is as unrelenting as the rowers in a Viking longboat and the title track is a fist-pumper all the way. There are plenty of spots where one or another band popped into my mind, some from the ‘80s, some more recent, but rather than feeling like Ironflame are rehashing, it’s like they took the best that bands like Armored Saint, Yngwie Malmsteen, Grand Magus and others had to offer and incorporated it into their songwriting to create something distinctive but awesomely familiar at the same time. On Where Madness Dwells, Ironflame pile the riffs high and ratchet up the catchiness while still delivering a devastating barrage of metallic might. If you are into the "new wave of traditional heavy metal" on any level, get yourself a copy.