Review | Victory – Circle Of Life

AFM Records

Some three years ago the German metal boys of Victory reunited with a new line-up. Guitarist Herman Frank took the initiative to get his old band together and recruited second guitarist Mike Pesin, bass player Malte Frederik Burkert, drummer Michael Stein and vocalist Gianni Pontillo. Some ten years after their last release Victory was back in business with the album ‘Gods Of Tomorrow’. A very satisfying melodic metal record with scorching guitars and with a vocalist that sounded like a cross between the late great Bon Scott, Marc Storace (Krokus), Tom Hampton (The Treatment) and Marc Tornillo (Accept). Musically this record was some sort of a continuation of the solo-records of Herman Frank, a no-nonsense musician who throughout his career let his guitar do the talking.

IRON ALLIES

A year later Frank, Pesin, Burkert and drummer Francesco Jovino teamed up with singer David Reece for a new project called Iron Allies. Their album ‘Blood In Blood Out’ was a real heavy metal statement of its own, one of the very best records of 2022. I had expected a follow-up for that group, but Frank has chosen to do one with Victory first, entitled ‘Circle Of Life’, with ten brand-new melodic metal songs.

SAME RECIPE, SAME RESULT

‘Gods Of Tomorrow’ did not show new musical avenues but was as solid and as hard as a rock. ‘Circle Of Life’ is fabricated by the same recipe and it has the same result. Not showing us any new musical avenues or tricks, the album is filled with ten very consistent sounding songs that have all the necessary ingredients you are looking for in a classic metal record. The guitars of Pesin and Frank lead the way, Burkert and Stein put down a granite foundation and the raw and powerful vocals of Pontillo are not to be ignored here. This man has really found his place and sounds impressive. Victory in 2024 might not be super original perhaps but it is a solid metal machine kicking out heavy tracks such as ,,Count On Me’’, ,,Money’’, ,,Virtual Sin’’, ,,Falling’’ (based on a slow but oh so heavy riff) and ,,Moonlit Sky’’.

VICTORY – THE CONCLUSION

This band from Germany’s number one rock city Hanover proves once again that with the right attitude, power plus the right sort of aggression and musical expertise, packed in a pure and honest metal sound you can stick to your guns, stay true to yourself, and keep it metal. That is what is happening here and it is typical for the career of Herman Frank. He knows what his strong points are and he does not feel the need to do anything different. Why should you when time after time you come up with a crushing metal album? And Herman…bring on that second Iron Allies album.

Release date: 13 September 2024