Ironware is another young heavy metal act from Sweden and right from the first second these youngsters set the pace of this album: melodic speed/heavy metal in the vein of Helloween and Iron Maiden. Oh well, I haven’t heard enough of these bands lately. Thankfully however, Ironware is more than half decent and not like most of the mediocre wannabe bands. Songs like “Holy Man” and “Dark Sun” show that this band means business. The riffs are varied, powerful and decent. You certainly won’t hear anything new, but you will hear well played melodic speed metal.

Unfortunately, I find this album starts to bore really quickly. Most of the songs are played in the same tempo, and although there’s lead breaks a plenty, it just doesn’t keep my interest ‘till the very end. One reason might be the ‘poppy’ vocals of Pasi Humppi. It’s the same type of top 40 punk rock vocals as the singer of Rising Faith.

I’m certain many people will enjoy this but I don’t. I hear enough of that stuff when I turn on my television.

I’m not much a fan of the sound of Break Out either, even though Andy LaRoque (this man must not be sleeping a lot lately) has produced it. It’s terribly clinical and the guitars are pushed too far in the background and lack power. I do realize that Ironware plays modern melodic heavy metal, and that the sound might fit that perfectly as well as the vocals, but for me as a diehard metal fan, it’s all too clean and all too emotionless.

Break Out is a decent debut album that shows Ironware has talent but is not really for the old school metal fan. If Ironware wants to appeal to a bigger metal audience, it’s time for them to truly become metal.