Tarot

Epic and striking, this eighth studio album from one of Finland's most underrated power metal bands finds Tarot nailing the same powerful aggression and broad melodicism of 2006's Crows Fly Black with ease. Still mining that Iron Maiden-esque territory, albeit with slightly more testosterone, where verse riffs come into play, opener "Satan Is Dead," the driving "Pilot Of All Dreams" and moody closer "End Of Everything" are everything any Euro metal freak could possibly ask for. Well, other than something without the severe sentimentality and pseudo-sissiness. Still, those brash rhythms perfectly back vocalist Marco Hietal, who shows exactly why Nightwish plucked him from relative anonymity some years ago. Throaty and soaring, his delivery is as majestic and flexible as his most obvious comparison ― Bruce Dickinson ― ensuring that Gravity Of Light is a stunning mass of operatic, albeit shredding, metal.