The eighth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal powerhouse (assuming one doesn't count the re-recordings compilation ) is superficially as strong as anything else in the band's impressive catalog. Since the day frontwoman joined, has been one of the most consistent bands in metal, cranking out 11 or 12 fist-pumping, anthemic tracks every couple of years. This album features 11 songs, a silly intro with narration like something from a movie trailer or a video game, and two brief instrumental interludes, one of which treads perilously close to but is just different enough to keep the lawyers at bay. That's not the only bit of almost-plagiarism here; the pre-chorus to bears a disconcerting melodic resemblance to ' The title and intro section of seem like loving imitations of -era , and the same song, in its final two minutes, erupts into a fury of retro-thrashy guitar soloing, with one player doing his best as the other pretends he's . Meanwhile, sounds like a combination of three or four previous songs. Still, shouldn't be dismissed as the result of creative burnout -- there's plenty of scorching metal here, and fans will be very pleased. ~ Phil Freeman