Northtale – Welcome to Paradise (Review)

Northtale are a power metal band and this is their debut album.

Formed by musicians with a lot of experience in the metal arena, they have given us 53 minutes of infectious and well-delivered power metal.

Blending elements of Helloween, Dragonforce, Hammerfall, Stratovarius, and others into a cohesive and moreish whole, I can’t help but get carried away listening to stuff like this. Welcome to Paradise is the kind of album that you can effortlessly just put on repeat, soaking up its well-written metallic vibes over and over again. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but simply delivers a collection of metal tunes that will have you screaming along on mountain tops before you know how you even got there.

As I frequently opine, the weakest point with most power metal is the singer, but there are no issues here whatsoever. Northtale’s singer, (ex-Twilight Force), has an outstanding voice, capable of handling all of the material with ease. Whether high or low, soft or loud, ballad or heavy rocker, he commands the songs and his voice rings out powerful and strong.

Of course, the rest of the musicians are equally as talented, and the album doesn’t put a foot wrong when it comes to performances. The writing is on point too. Across the 13 tracks the band unveil a range of different feels and ideas, all carefully encapsulated in the power metal template that they have created for themselves. Piano, keyboards, and orchestration are used well to enhance the core of the band’s power metal, but it’s this metallic heart that really drives things forward. Anthemic and catchy songs are the norm on this album.

Although certainly not perfect, Welcome to Paradise is still hugely enjoyable. I find it easy to dislike power metal when it’s done less than ideally, but when a band do what they do well, I have a ridiculous soft spot for it. Northtale meet my criteria for slipping into this soft spot, and therefore I can’t help but have fallen for this. Make of that what you will, but while you are, make sure you listen to Welcome to Paradise.