Death of a Hero is the debut full-length from Irish Heavy/Power Metal band Bakken. Most of the songs are based on the Iron Maiden style with some modern Power Metal updates. It sounds like the band members know their way around their instruments pretty well but while vocalist Simon Pickett belts it out with a lot of energy, he's not the most talented singer around. He has a deep voice that sounds like James Hetfield in spots (not his fault, but unfortunate) and he occasionally struggles to stay in tune. The songwriting is formulaic but not annoyingly so. Bakken saves the best for last on Death of a Hero. "Voyage of Aodh" is nearly 8-minutes long and features a deft mix of slow, heavy and speedy parts, closing the album on a high note.
Bakken has some work to do but Death of a Hero is a pretty good effort for a debut, especially considering it is self-released.
