Project: Roenwolfe | Edge Of Saturn

June 23, 2021 Publisher Music Reviews Comments Off

by Justin Gaines
— Senior Columnist —

It’s been eight long years since American power/thrash metal band Project: Roenwolfe unleashed their debut album Neverwhere Dreamscape. That’s a long time to go silent, especially for a band that showed so much potential on that first album, but now that guitarist Alicia Cordisco has parted ways with Judicator, Project: Roenwolfe is back on the front burner.

If you missed the band the first time around, Project: Roenwolfe is a collaboration between the aforementioned Cordisco and vocal powerhouse Patrick Parris. They’re joined here by drummer Ernie Topran (Theocracy, ex-Halcyon Way). They play a style of metal that walks a fine line between power metal and thrash metal. Think classic bands like Vicious Rumors, Artillery and Helstar plus a solid dose of Iron Savior and Jag Panzer-style power metal. Speedy as hell, but with a power metal sense of melody and aesthetics.

Neverwhere Dreamscape was a remarkably strong debut, especially for an unknown American band, but Edge Of Saturn is just next level in every way. You don’t need to play guitar to feel your fingers bleed when listening to Cordisco’s riffs, which are as precise as they are fast. And Parris’s vocals are just massive, recalling the late Warrel Dane and Tim Aymar and perfectly conveying the intensity of the lyrics to these songs. Speaking of which, Edge Of Saturn takes a more personal (and yes, political) turn lyrically, while still retaining a strong sci-fi vibe. The drumming is tighter this time around, and the production is first-rate.

Leadoff track “Song Of Kali” is a great representative of Edge Of Saturn’s overall sound, and is bound to get heads banging, as do the blistering “Mastermind Manipulators” and “Starbound Butcher Of My Dreams.” It’s the longer, more epic songs like “Edge Of Saturn” and “Aeternum Vale” that really showcase just how far Project: Roenwolfe have come, and that are going to excite power metal fans the most. The only real curveball here is the closing track “The Dreaming God,” since it features growled vocals (by Soulmass vocalist Lux Edwards). It’s a killer song and is enough to make death metal fans pray for a collaboration between Cordisco and Edwards, but it seems a bit out of place here, even as a bonus track.

This album feels like a labor of love; something that was refined over the years rather than forgotten and picked up again. And it was well worth the long wait. Better yet, by all accounts Cordisco and Parris are already hard at work on album number three, so we should not have to wait quite so long for a follow-up to this excellent release. Edge Of Saturn is an immensely satisfying album, scratching that classic power/thrash itch while at the same time staking a claim next to the best of the modern American power metal bands. If you’re a fan of Vicious Rumors, Judicator, Iron Savior, Jag Panzer, Artillery, Helstar and Heathen, this may be the best album you discover in 2021.

Genre: Power Metal, Thrash Metal

Band:
Alicia Cordisco (g) (b) (v)
Patrick Parris (v)
Ernie Topran (d)

Track Listing: