I liked Custard's last album, 2012's Infested by Anger, so giving their newest release a few listens was not a difficult decision and A Realm of Tales turns out to be a step up from Infested... The guitar work remains solid and the songwriting is much improved. Custard don't stick with one flavor of Power Metal on A Realm of Tales, instead they opt for a few "happy" songs ("Snow White" "Pied Piper") that roll out the double-bass drums and high-pitched choruses and mix that with some darker, crunchier tracks ("Arabian Nights" "Witch Hunter"). They even get a little epic with "The Little Match Girl" with singer Oliver Strasser working some Crimson Glory vocal lines into the song. While none of the songs are amazing, the variety keeps the album from getting repetitive, something that plagued the last album.
With influences from Edguy to Iron Fire to Crimson Glory, A Realm of Tales is a fun release that fans of the more well-known Power Metal bands should enjoy.
