Alright, fellow readers, let’s get down to brass tacks here. Canada has been really taking it up a notch by proving that there’s a lot of kick-ass music going on. Whether it’s Rush, VOIVOD, Max Webster, Klaatu, Blood Ceremony, Harmonium, or Maneige, there’s really cool shit that’s happening. But when it comes to the world of Iron Kingdom, you know something is about to come out of the tunnels by adding in those blistering metallic attitudes honoring the NWOBHM movement.
This Vancouver-based band has carried the hearts and minds of Iron Maiden’s legacy with its stamp of approval by making sure the metal flag doesn’t drop down. That and the band’s new album Shadows and Dust are what the extreme, pure, non-apologetic attitude of the brand of metal is supposed to be. Bringing in the thunder and bringing in the galloping, shredded guitar work with a fiery cannon blast coming out of nowhere.
Listening to the new album, I can vividly hear not just Maiden but also King Diamond, Judas Priest, Saxon, and Blind Guardian blended into one delicious, giant hot-and-spicy protein smoothie, served and ready to go! But all in all, Shadows and Dust is a very good album, shell to toe. Both ‘Defenders’ and ‘Eternal Emperor’ begin with powering forces coming together with riffed-up guitars and thunderous drums but with a revved-up tone that’ll make you think of British Steel and the first two Paul Di’Anno-era albums from Iron Maiden, which definitely speaks volumes.
We’re now in this wasteland with fast-driven, majestic arrangements coming out of the eruptive volcano, waiting for the resurrection of Taarna from the 1981 Heavy Metal movie with an added touch of the ‘Dreamless Sea’ and ‘Deadhouse Gates’ as she encounters a spiritual journey before heading back into the battlefield to confront the Barbarian Leader, and this time she’s not backing down without a fight.
You can quite imagine that the Iron Kingdom has done their homework and sourced material, knowing that the NWOBHM movement is in their blood and veins to keep their spirits alive, followed by bits of the Bay Area thrash scene into the mix. Indeed, Canada knows how to make kick-ass music and show the power and the glory that is pure metallic wonders that are on this bad boy.
Again, I wouldn’t compare them as the next Iron Maiden, because it would be too much of a cop-out, but they are their own true source of music and their own volume to carry the metal flag and wave it high in the air and not let it drop. This band are the real deal and carry those sci-fi/fantasy elements into their stories, which is quite powerful and quite unique in their own way of an imaginative movie.
Speaking of thrash, the ‘Line of Fire’ goes into some Bay Area momentum where Iron Kingdom go into their record collection, envisioning the sounds of Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All and Slayer’s Reign of Blood, but with a power metal twist, featuring pulsating guitar solos and fast-paced riffs and would have given the corporate falsetto mouse, the big giant middle finger, to whoever runs the animation studio with an iron fist.
The bass line intro behind ‘Blood and Steel’ is a tip of the hat to Maiden’s own Steve Harris, which speaks of ‘Wrathchild’, ‘Innocent Exile’, and ‘The Clairvoyant’. Should we go ahead and delve deep into the Di’Anno era? Yes, we need to listen and pay attention to those albums before Dickinson takes his place, and the rest, as they say, is history.
But hang on, what’s this? Do I hear a battle prepping for war with blaring guitar riffs, pounding drums, high-energised vocals, and rumbling bass work coming out of the sky for the ‘Shadow of Time’ to begin? Oh, hell yeah! Hell to the yeah for this riffed-up adventure coming right at you. As the battle rages on between ‘Dark Demands’ and ‘Starlight’, whose electrical voltages are coming as one, ranging for the bloody gorefest that’s coming across the horizon as we close the album out with ‘Sacred Fire’.
A 7-minute epic set in the mystical caves with a giant stick blazed with fire, walking in the Egyptian tombs, seeing the history and its legacy, leaving behind a moody turned proggy escort for the first 54 seconds before sending all forces heading into the battlefield to go out in a blaze of glory with a galloping arrangement. And yes, the doubling guitar sounds of riffs and killer solos heading into this massive climax.
As I sit here finishing up this review whilst replaying Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on my Xbox, Iron Kingdom has really taken their stance with hard rock and heavy metal to a standstill, packed with amazement and shining glory in all of its wonder, but making sure the two genres between the NWOBHM and thrash eras are kept in their mighty epic book of ingredients to keep you coming back for more. What can I say? Shadows and Dust is the album we’ve been waiting for this upcoming summer of 2026.
