Circle Of Silence's tough Thrash with Power Metal is potent, if you like your Power Metal with jagged edges.

If you like your Metal gnarly and breathing fire, but with some attention to good hooks as well, then this is for you. Now on their third full album, these fearsome Germans make music that would scare even cavemen. Pumped full of Teutonic testosterone, this will cause you to grow hair on your palms and soles of your feet as well as sprout horns!

The twin thrash guitars are frenetic enough to cause whiplash, and when they sing 'Destroyers Of The Earth' you bloody believe them! Niklas Keim manages that tightrope between sounding like he could bite your head off and holding a melody reasonably well, without descending into growls.

The sound of thunder and lightning starts the record, and that's what you get for most of the disc. 'Race To The Sky' gallops along with some neck-snapping Thrash. The drums do a good job keeping up throughout, without bursting into flames. When the pace slows on 'The Chosen One' the riffs still engage by becoming even thicker. 'Lionheart' offers up another gnawing riff, before the song hits you with the most overt Power Metal chorus on the record.

They vary the riffs just enough throughout to keep it interesting. The drilling title track will make you head-butt your way through a wall. 'Into The Fire' and 'Possessor Of Fire', as similar as their titles suggest, are both capable of making you instantly self-combust. An acoustic intro on 'Endgame' comes at the right point to offer a brief respite from the bludgeoning riffage, and 'Wild Eyes' has a melodic lead guitar over the thrashy riff to show they can be more melodic if they want to be.

This is the kind of album Massacre Records have built their name on, and Circle Of Silence's tough Thrash with Power Metal is potent, if you like your Power Metal with jagged edges.

Duncan Jamieson