Winterlong is a young power metal band from Sweden with an average age of 20 years old who, with their debut album ‘Valley Of The Lost’, try to establish a name in the metalscene.

The cd I got had a pretty big flaw on it. On the side of the cd, it said ‘Walley Of The Lost’ instead of ‘Valley…’. One would think it’s noticable… I hope the cd’s in the stores don’t have the same mistake. Well, on to the music. Winterlong is clearly a power metal band. Fast drumkicks, fast guitar rhythms and a nice addition of a keyboard and even some choir arrangements make this an album power metal fans should check out. Add to it a touch of Iron Maiden and there you have it.

Of the many fast paced songs, two songs can be found that take it slowly.

‘Victory’ is a short drumless ballad that’s got nice acoustic guitars in it. The sudden change from acoustic to the electric guitar seems a bit misplaced and forced though, which makes this song almost useless. The song that follows it is much better thankfully. The other slow song is ‘Driven by Insanity’ which has a beginning that focusses mainly on vocalist Hussni Morsare. Although much better than ‘Victory’ it’s clear that Winterlong should concentrate on the faster songs, which they indeed do.

Even though the music doesn’t contain anything new, it’s still an ok power metal album. They’re still young so they will have plenty of time to develop their skills and songwriting.