Warkings – Revenge

Warkings
Revenge
Napalm Records
July 31, 2020

It has been nearly two years since Warkings last sallied forth with ‘Reborn’ their debut album. This album confused and split power metal fans who were unsure of what to make of Warkings; but this year has the masked marauders returning to crusade once more with their sophomore album ‘Revenge’.               With ‘Revenge’, Warkings pick up exactly where the debut album left off; therefore, what the listener gets with this album are thundering tracks of power metal with the cheese factor once again turned to 11 enticing fans of Dream Evil and HammerFall. Tracks such as ‘Freedom’, ‘Warking’ and ‘Warriors’ all invoke the chest beating, fist pumping attitude from the first album showing the band have been drinking nothing but the nectar of Manowar whilst  ‘Maximus’ and ‘Battle of Marathon’ feel like spiritual successors to ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Sparta’ from the debut album. However, with ‘Revenge’ the perplexed faces of the a power metal

audience continue to scratch their heads; it can’t help feeling that on the one hand, the band have spent far too much time watching ‘300’ as it bleeds over the top macho homoeroticism whilst on the other, a gimmick which has got a little out of hand and because of this it is difficult to take ‘Revenge’ seriously. Yet, the musicianship here is second to none and vocalist Tribune does his utmost to lead the vanguard of troops forward to deliver a selection of memorable tracks.

              Obviously, ‘Revenge’ has a tongue in cheek delivery and is not meant to be taken seriously. There are some enjoyable tracks here and although they reek of brie and camembert, it will be some of the best cheese you can listen to. Yet, ultimately, it can’t be helped thinking that this is just a gimmick and as good as it gets.