Lord of Earth and Heaven's Heir

Debut for Human Fortress, who made a splash with their sophomore album Defenders Of The Crown back on 2003. On the whole, I think this is a stronger album, with fewer low points than that one. There may be nothing quite as catchy as "Border Raid", but then again, there's no suckjob songs like "Holy Grail Mine" either. In fact, this album features "Under Black Age Toil", which is the best song HF have ever done. Even the ballad on here, "Forgive and Forget", is genuinely emotional and hearfelt, due in no small part to the superior vocals of Jioti Parcharidis - now sadly departed.

There are some throwaway songs on here, but overall this is a very consistent album of solid Power Metal that's well worth having. If the up-and-down quality of their second disc put you off, then this is one you should check out.