“Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you of the days high adventure!”

It’s not a secret that I love all things Sword and Sandal movies. Conan the Barbarian being the best, top fucking tier hack and slash cinema. Beastmaster, Red Sonja, Sorceress, titties and blood and vengeance oh my, I eat that shit up. So when fellow scribe Frank Rini suggested Krilloan and I read their description I needed it in my life.

Return Of The Heralds is the follow-up to 2022s Emperor Rising (which I’m going to have to check out toot sweet), and it’s a powerhouse of a Swedish Power Metal album. Opening with the soaring and just downright majestic “Atlantian Sword” and it didn’t take long to hook me into the whirlwind of magical riffs and shredding solos. As a matter of fact my head didn’t stop banging for the remainder of the album, it’s that fucking good.

“Kings of the Iron Hill” thrashes away like the giant snake in Conan the Barbarian, sporting a menacing centerpiece that crawls before kicking into overdrive for the solo; it works devilishly well for the segue into “Blood & Fire (Born on a Battlefield)” which is without a doubt my favorite song on the album. It has the theme from Conan worked into the fucking solo! How goddamn cool is that, constant reader?

Return Of The Heralds has a thick, yet perfectly curated production that aims to slay everything in It’s 1,000 HP path. I always check out the for fans of section, this one mentions Blind Guardian, but it doesn’t mention Demons and Wizards or Running Wild (who are all over “The Oathpact” and “Return of the Heralds”) then  the Hammerfall heavy as Mjolnir “Hammer of Wrath” and festival ready “Avenging Son”.

All this is happening in the Conan universe and it’s entertaining as fuck, “The KingKillers Tale” no Thrash here and it’s my second favorite track, ominous as it tells the story in a more Baroque manner; it’s a gorgeous song.

“We Burn” and “Beyond the Gates” round out the album in the best possible way, both being insane riff-fests and when you have guest appearances by Johan Haraldsson & Johan Karlsson (Evermore), Jack Reynolds & Tom O´Dell (Battle Born) and Magnus Holmström (Swedish folk master and HammerFall live guest), you know it’s going to be a beast.

I mentioned before about the for fans of and I want to also add the Helloween tendrils that infect “Kings of the Iron Hill”, I cannot say get it enough times…  So, there you go. Definitely a recommendation.

 

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