Band: Fer de Lance | Album: Fires on the Mountainside | Genre: Progressive metal, Power metal | Year: 2025
From: Chicago, USA | Label: Cruz del Sur Music
For fans of: Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Wytch Hazel, Rainbow
Power metal and classic heavy metal are styles of music that show up on my site every now and then, but never with a ton of frequency. Fer de Lance is a Chicagoan quartet that uses those genres as the basis for some very big, very epic-sounding metal. They pull in influences from farther afield, too, including various veins of folk music and black metal.
Fires on the Mountainside opens with a big statement, leading with its 13-minute title track. Harmonized guitars immediately evoke classic power metal and NWOBHM acts. Initially relatively mellow, keyboards and acoustic guitars flesh the sound out. As the song enters its first verse, the intensity quickly picks up. The sound is epic and grandiose, and I really like the vocals. They’ve got a touch more grit to them than many other power metal acts, and I really appreciate that.
There are instrumental show-offs aplenty. Wiry guitar solos and passages of wordless vocals are both deployed to great effect. Some of the melodies call to mind folk metal acts like Ensiferum. It’s a fun bit of semi-fantastical escapism that doesn’t delve too deep into cheese.
Launching into its final movement, some black metal influences emerge, and it really adds to the drama of the song. Tremolo picking and hoarse vocals crank things up, but it’s not enough to scare off folks who might not be fans of the more extreme varieties of metal. Despite this song’s length, everything feels amazingly cohesive. Ideas are frequently revisited without feeling repetitious, and there is a sense of majesty.
“Ravens Fly (Dreams of Daedalos)” has a fittingly soaring, ascendant quality to it. I really like the way Fer de Lance builds texture with various keyboard tones and acoustic guitar. The band dips back into folk metal influences again here, but it’s paired with frequent stripped-back sections. The instrumental passage in this song’s midsection draws from classic Dream Theater, but with a more modern edge. The emphasis here, as in the preceding song, is on a big, powerful mood. But looking under the hood a little reveals a lot of complex and clever composition and playing.
Buzzing blackened guitars lead the way on “Death Thrives (Where Walls Divide)”. Where the first two songs sailed and swooped, this one stomps. The pace is more grounded and deliberate, and the arrangement matches that change. Acoustic guitar adds an organic quality that cuts through the thick distortion, and folk influences are smoothly integrated without necessarily pushing the band into full-on “folk metal” territory.
“Fire and Gold” gallops toward glory. A less skilled band could have easily veered into pure schlock here, but Fer de Lance keeps things grounded with textures and tones that constantly shift and morph.
Maintaining a similar rhythm but slower pace, “The Feast of Echoes” has a more Gothic tinge to it. Glassy organ underpins the main riff, and the lead guitar slices its way through other passages. This nine-minute epic, much like the title track, does a great job at shifting and varying its tone, melody, and structure throughout its runtime, while also feeling like one, big, unified piece.
“Children of the Sky and Sea” is solid overall, but it is the least necessary song here, at least for me. It features plenty of the band’s prog-adjacent epic sounds, powerful vocals, and sky-high melodies. In isolation, it’s pretty good. But in the context of the album , it just doesn’t really feel like it adds a ton to the overall experience. Your mileage may vary, obviously.
Closing things out is “Tempest Stele”. This song has a woozy, hazy opening with fuzzed out guitar lines that feel like they’re clambering out of some ancient grave. When things get going, it’s got some of the most exciting music on the whole record. Speedy guitars with some flamenco flavors are the real star of the show, and it makes for a thrilling and fun conclusion.
Fires on the Mountainside is a great record. Power metal isn’t something I reach for all that often, but when I’m craving it, something like this is great for scratching that itch. I really like the way the band varies its textures, and they also demonstrate some really strong songwriting.
Score: 81/100
The Elite Extremophile 