WARDRUM - Mavericks

WARDRUM

Album: Mavericks

Genre: Powermetal

Release Date: May 28th, 2021

Country: Greece

Label: Steel Gallery Records

Band Links: WEBSITE / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK

Even though WARDRUM are around for a while now, I have to admit that I just came across their music thanks to “Mavericks”, which is their 5 th album and was released on May 28th, 2021 via Steel Gallery Records. The quintet is heading from Thessaloniki, Greece, was founded back in 2010, and is passionate about playing and developing their music in a direction they believe heavy metal should have taken after its “golden era”.

“Mavericks” is a concept album, telling the story of Messenger, the winged faceless figure that appears on all of their album covers. Drummer Stergios Kourou wrote an accompanying novel, “Mavericks - The Story Of The Messenger”, which is also available as book (limited to 300 copies) and digital download, combining mythology, fantasy, and contemporary views on the ancient world. With this special release, WARDRUM celebrate 10 years of playing and creating music together.

Like the cover artwork suggests, this is an album for fans of heavy- and powermetal, and they offer a strong one. The up- and midtempo songs move straight forward, the rhythm section supports the songs perfectly and in style. The guitars offer melodic, powerful riffs as well as great solo parts. An important piece for me are always the vocals, and George Margaritopoulos easily convinces with his wide range and performance.

With “Mavericks”, the Greek quintet adds an awesome piece to their discography, everything seems to be in the right place: from the first, visual impression to a well-balanced production, and from amazing musicianship to the varied song-writing, as well as the great vocals. WARDRUM melt all these ingredients with their passion for playing and deliver a strong contender for this year’s top10 powermetal albums.

Written by Katha