It’s been ten years since Seattle-based power metal maestros Greyhawk have unleashed two studio albums from 2020 to 2024 and two EPs in 2018 and 2022. They prove themselves that they are fierce, rammed-up and ready to go, and not backing out without a fight. There is the fantasy level, the fire inside their belly’s, and the majestic riffs that shows that the metal genre is growing strong and keeping the flames burning brighter than ever.
That and their third studio album, Warriors of Greyhawk is more than just a powerful release for 2026, but an eruptive cannon blast, waiting to explode at the right place, at the right time. The line-up consists of Bassist Darin Wall, Guitarists Jesse Berlin and Rob Steinway, Drummer Nate Butler, and Vocalist Anthony Corso. Right off the bat, when you two doubling guitarists, you think straight away; Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Queensrÿche, and Megadeth.
That’s how powerful Greyhawk really are. A band that will get your head banging, right at the moment you put this mo-fo on and turn it up to 11. The album cover does bear some resemblance of the ‘90s animated series King Arthur and the Knights of Justice. But you can’t deny the playing, fast-paced arrangements, and its fantasy-lyrical textures Greyhawk has put to the kitchen table.
Now, this isn’t Dungeons and Dragons, ladies and gentlemen, the energy that the quintet has in their veins, is embodied by the thrashing Bay Area sound on ‘Embers Rise’ and the epic ride into the metallic preparation for battle in the ‘Land of Ashes’. Corso can really sing. I wouldn’t compare it to King Diamond and Bruce Dickinson because that would be a cop-out right from the get-go, but Corso gives his band members the electrical juice that is needed when they have their sword and sorcery atmospheres in their background.
The powering duo guitarists of Berlin and Steinway get down to business by illustrating the stories brought to life as if they were young again, reading Heavy Metal magazine, bits of Dark Horse comics and stories from Conan and Red Sonja by making their own animated movie in its r-rated form to give Disney, the big giant middle finger and make the corporate falsetto mouse, shitting his pants, 24/7 whilst having a you-know-what with a quacking duck. Look at ‘Take a Stand’, ‘Endless Race’, and the prog-orientated ‘Chosen’ with its symphonic background.
They have an equal amount of measure by playing rhythm, lead, and high-rising riffs which takes you back to the 1980s era where metal was king in the NWOBHM and thrash movement. They know the source material and knowing they had done their homework well.
The duelling momentum kicks into overdrive with a high energy level that goes in full speed behind ‘Hyperspace’ before laying down into this coolness in an AOR sound which speaks a bit of the Audio-Visions-era from Kansas and Kayak’s Merlin-era on ‘Rise Above’ with Maiden members handling the production levels in a parallel universe.
That is how heavy this band can make 2026 start off with a massive blast, letting the metal community know that the five-letter word isn’t dead, but it’s alive and kicking ass then and now. And the Warriors of Greyhawk, is the album we need here, and the album that in the words of HUNTR/X from the 2025 movie KPop Demon Hunters, shows how Greyhawk gets its done, done, done!
