Jack Starr’s Guardians Of The Flame produce classic heavy metal with neoclassical, epic and celtic arrangements. The combination of metal with celtic sounds is one I particularly like. This is why I had rather high expectations of Jack Starr’s latest release “Under A Savage Sky”. Not all these expectations became reality. It is without any doubt that this album contains some great heavy metal tracks, “Sharon Of The Woods”, the title track and the instrumental “Anthem For The Nations” to name three. All these three songs are carried by Joe Hasselvanders brilliant drumming.

It’s a shame that J.S.G.O.T.F. couldn’t keep up this level of compositions. There are too many weak tracks on the album. And with weak I mean mainstream eighties heavy metal with lack of inspiration. Songs like “Conspiracy Sanctos” and “Cry For Dawn” bring “Under A Savage Sky” down to an overall average album. Despite the fact that this could have been a better album, I’m sure fans of the genre will like and some times love it.