185 days till W:O:A 2023. I really need to step it up a notch if I want to write about all the bands on the line-up this year. I am taking too much time with individual bands, trying very much to find something to latch on to, even if there isn't anything. Masterplan last week was a hard one and unfortunately, it is the same with Warkings.
Warkings, a power metal supergroup consisting of well established and busy musicians who dabble in various other bands and projects. For Warkings they all assumed an alias of one powerful warking from history and the idea is that those warkings meet in Valhalla, telling their stories and being sent back to earth from Odin himself to spread metal. Yeah... I know. Anyhow... we have The Tribune (aka vocalist Georg Neuhauser), The Crusader (aka guitarist Markus Pohl), The Spartan (aka drummer Steffen Theurer) and The Viking (aka bassist Chris Rodens). While Georg Neuhauser is Austrian, all other band members are German.
Warkings have released four studio albums between 2018 and 2022 and I chose their debut album Reborn from 2018 for my article because it was the only one I could listen to in one go. Reborn features ten songs and runs for roughly 41 minutes and it was after song 6 that I grew tired of it for the first time, so it does drag on a bit as the songs tend to sound pretty much the same.
First track on the album is Give Em War and it kicks off the album quite nicely. You have a somewhat oriental sounding intro followed by fast and chugging riffs and blasting drums. As soon as the vocals set in, it gets difficult for me. Georg Neuhauser is a very skilled vocalist, it is just not working for me. It is a very good power metal voice, no question, for my taste it is too clean. The heavyness of the instruments gets somewhat lost as soon as the vocals set in. Nevertheless Give Em War is one of my favourite songs on this album. The guitar solo part is perfect and all in all the song is catchy and gives a good idea of what to expect on this album.
Speaking of guitar solos. There is one in each song delivered by The Crusader and they are all absolutely great. Markus Pohl is definitely the musician that stands out to me most on this album. His solos are the highlight of each track.
Never Surrender starts a bit more trudging and mid-paced, again with an oriental guitar intro. The chorus is insanely catchy and will stick with you for a while, if you are not careful. The instrumental parts are great in this song, the rest is rather generic. Next track Hephaistos. Most listened-to song on Spotify and clearly a fan favourite. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I hate this song so much. Again, the riffing and drumming is good and the song is heavy enough, but the chorus is the most annoying I've listened to in a while. Catchy, but really irritating.
Next track Gladiator is another one of the songs I like more than the others. It starts with yet another oriental guitar intro, followed by blasting drums and super fast riffing, sounding like text-book power metal. The verses sound like any other song I've heard on this album so far and the chorus is yet again very catchy. You have a very dramatic bridge section here with spoken lyrics, but it somehow works and you are thrown back into the chorus again with full force.
Holy Storm come along stomping and mid-paced and is probably the most bland song on the album. I forgot it as soon as it was over. Although I did enjoy Pohl's solo towards the end, it is really good. Battle Cry starts with an army of warriors shouting and marching and you expect something epic, which the song doesn't deliver. The verses are boring and the chorus is totally cheesy.
Here I stand
All alone, all my brothers dead and gone
I raise my sword to the sky
Hear my battle cry
At this point I was tempted to skip the rest of the album, because I grew tired of this many warstories. Fire Falling Down makes up for it again. It kicks off really fast and strong and it is somewhat different from the other songs. The chorus is kind of distorted, the riffing is chugging and there is a nice melodic run that is very catchy. Needless to say that the solo starting at 2:29 minutes is yet again absolutely perfect. Sparta is really different and it was the first song I enjoyed the vocals. They are only performed in parts by The Tribune, the guttural growling is done by The Queen of the Damned (aka Melissa Bonny) and she does an amazing job. The songs starts off a bit more aggressive due to the growling, but the chorus is again very cheezy. The singalong breakdown in the middle is totally unnecessary. But I do enjoy the gruff parts and the instrumentals.
The Last Battle is yet another pretty generic song which doesn't stand out much. You get solid riffing and blast beats throughout the song along with gang shouts (WAR! WAR! WAR!) but it doesn't get me out of my seat at this point. The last song of the album Die Flut is a slow ballad performed in German. I find it a very odd end for this album because it has nothing to do with the rest of the songs. And it is really doing nothing for me. It reminded me a bit of Unheilig's hit Geboren um zu Leben from 2010 which I hated fiercely back then as well.
So... to come to a conclusion - Warkings perform solid power metal. The musicians are all very skilled and each of them know what they do. There are good and strong moments on this album, the production is clean and powerful, but there is nothing outstanding here that will stick with me for long. On to the next band!
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