‘To Lindisfarne’ welcomes you with a stormy sea. A horn blows, the battle is about to start. The music builds up, tension is rising. What is about to come? Well, title track ‘Armageddon’ will tell you about that. ‘Armageddon’ tells the story of the Viking raid on the Lindisfarne monastery in 793. A solid riff welcomes you. The clean vocals of The Tribune kick in and the solid riff leads you to a melodic chorus, followed by the female clean vocals of Morgana Le Fay. The bridge continues in the same style until we reach the chorus one more time. A strong start of the album.

‘Genghis Khan’ talks about the Mongol ruler’s and its unstoppable warriors. The song welcomes you with what sounds like a horn. The guitars make place for vocals, while the drums keep pounding along. “Hail to the king, We are warriors!” The song has spoken and continues to tell us the story about Genghis Khan. If you thought the previous riffs were strong, ‘Kingdom Come’ has some in store for you. The intro marches upon you. The drums continue to pound and lead the way throughout this song. The guitar follows along, but keeps a calm pace and carries the chorus to where it needs to be.

‘Morgana’s Incantation’ is a spoken track by Morgana le Fay. Wind is howling in the background, while her voice is getting more raspy as it progresses. Next up, is ‘Circle of Witches’. The guitars are faster, and the drums just as pounding. The words “The end is near” are chanted in the chorus. The song keeps your attention close while telling you its story.

‘Kings of Ragnarök’ tells us about the ultimate battle in the Norse Mythology. Starting with a thunder, probably one from Thor’s hammer, the song gives us a riff where one guitar plays a low tune while the other guitar takes the lead melody. Vocals are softly sung on top. Then everyone goes all out and shows what they’re capable off in this ultimate battle. Lets us not forget the epic solo, that’s fighting a battle of its own. ‘Call to Arms’ seems very mysterious. We hear faint vocals in the background, that become stronger over time. “Fight, Kill, Eye for an Eye!”

‘Troops of Immortality’ gets straight to the point. No intros, just getting right to it. The words from ‘Call to Arms’ are repeated in the chorus, and the reason why these words sounded in the previous track become clear. ‘Nightfall’ welcomes us calmly with clean electric guitars. The bass is the heartbeat of this song and leads you through it. When we hit the chorus, the guitars show their distorted sound, and the raw vocals of Morgana le Fay come through. A killer solo and one more chorus and the song comes to an end.

‘Hangmen’s Night’ tells the tragic story of King Philip IV of France, when he ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar. A solid riff welcomes you to the song, ready for instant headbanging. The chorus is very melodic compared to the riff in between the verses and the opening. A nice sing along song that gets stuck in your head from the first listen. ‘Varangoi’ has an heroic feel to it. The song tells us about Scandinavian adventures or traders. The song itself also has some Norse in it. A steady song with slower guitar strums that is over before you know it.

‘Here Comes the Rain’ opens very calm with the sound of a violin and a piano. The Tribune‘s vocals come in. Here’s the power ballad of this album; slow but strong. As the song continues, the tension builds up and creates this room of sound, which sounds amazing. For closer ‘Stahl auf Stahl’, Warkings are joined by Subway to Sally. The song, half sung in English and half in German, has a folky touch to it, showing the influence by Subway to Sally. A strong song to finish the album on. One last song to dance to.

Warkings delivers once again a solid powermetal piece. This time with the help of other artists that joined them to create this piece of history telling on a bed of raging guitars, pounding drums, a deep base and crystal clear vocals. Even though I don’t know much about history, these songs give me a glimpse of it. Next to that, it just is a very powerful album. Warkings know who they are and where they want to go. If you are into powermetal, be sure to check them out!

Warkings are:
The Tribune – Vocals
The Crusader – Guitar
The Viking – Bass
The Spartan – Drums
Morgana le Fay – Growls / Vocals

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