MILLENNIAL REIGN: World On Fire
Keep the Millennial Reign Fire Burning
Ulterium Records has carried high the Millennial Reign banner since 2015’s Carry the Fire but despite the victories of two releases for the band in the past decade (2018’s The Great Divide the other release), MR have continued to suffer from a high turnover rate of musicians and singers. For whatever reason, Dave Harvey (the cornerstone of the band’s existence) has been unsuccessful in stabilizing the band’s line-up. However, despite this negative, he has on the positive, kept the dream and the mission alive.
Nevertheless, the quality of those previous two releases was excellent, especially The Great Divide, one of the best of the power metal releases in 2018. But with World on Fire, Millennial Reign has turned another page in history by incorporating a different vocal style in the form of Tiffany Galchutt (who first debuted with the band on the 2020 Carry the Fire Again EP). Her voice adds a more gothic/ethereal quality to the heavy, sometimes symphonic, but mostly power metal sound of Millennial Reign.
… And Keep the Millennial Reign Quality Pouring
Consequently, it should be no surprise, based on Millennial Reign’s Texas roots – heavily influenced by Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Queensryche, Rush and Judas Priest – that they would hesitate in changing their lead singer from male to female. Just the “fiery” cover art itself should be an indication of their willingness to walk into uncertainty and danger. No worries, the modifications to the line-up, which additionally include newcomer Pedro Cortes on drums, work just as well as what they’ve previously delivered. Bassist Neil Bertrand, who shares many of Harvey’s influences, returns for his second release with the band.
Not surprisingly, both the CD and vinyl versions sound great and include the 11 original tracks plus the Triumph cover of “Allied Forces.” In particular, the bass drum has a punch I don’t recall with the previous releases. These songs are well-written, with a good balance of metal edge and melody, Galchutt’s vocals conveying a more melodic quality to the mix. Her clear voice articulates the spiritually exhorting lyrics with ease and conviction. Think Heart/Barnabas – those influences on the young vocalist are quite apparent from her style.
World on Fire
After the brief intro instrumental, “Exousia,” Millennial Reign’s opening lyric track “Bring Me to Life” hearkens back to the song of the same name by Evanescence, with its more gothic quality. This if followed by the Eastern “Wandering” which turns out to be one of the strongest songs here both musically and lyrically.
Subsequently, on “Trust” things feel just slightly awkward on the vocal delivery/phrasing, but the lyrics which echo the words of the Proverbs anchor the song. Contrastingly, “We Follow On” is “full-on” power metal with the driving double bass, guitars and anthemic vocals. This song features the band firing on all 4 cylinders, perfectly in balance and rhythm.
Fortunately, “Eternity,” like the opening vocal track, suits Galchutt’s vocal style – she just sounds comfortable, at home here. The guitars let loose a bit with a solo mid-song, and then the song “breaks out” into a more melodic section which allows the symphonic keys to sing forth (think Kansas) into the ending.
Transitionally, more symphonic elements (choral singing) on the instrumental interlude “Parousia” lead into the epic rapture track, “Crack the Eastern Sky,” which might just vie for the best song of the album – certainly the most power/prog metal song here. In escalation, sweeping keys/programming prelude the heavy guitar riffs of “Tongues of Fire” which generates epic aggression with those Accept-like male BGV’s and the speedy bass drum propelling the song into eternity.
Interestingly, rarely does an album title track appear this late in the sequence, but “World on Fire” doesn’t let down at all on the intensity built up on the previous two tracks. Here, Millennial Reign delivers a bit more dynamic contrast and rhythmic variation, but the intensity remains high, the urgency of the message no less insistent.
Finally, the run-out here includes the Stratovarius/keyboard driven “Onward to Victory” followed by the Triumph cover of one of their deeper (yet still well-known) tracks, the title track to 1981’s Allied Forces album. Smoldering Triumph would be the best way to describe this total shred-fest of a cover song of one of the most underrated progressive/rock bands of the ‘70’s and early ‘80’s.
Molten Media
Not surprisingly, the 16-page glossy booklet is Ulterium primo quality with easily legible lyrics/words. The vinyl has a single glossy two-side lyric/credits/photo sheet plus poly-lined inner with single outer jacket. Vinyl is limited worldwide to black/orange splatter (100) and black (200) copies. Different song order on vinyl with title track on Side A and “Trust” on Side B. Tons of low-end punch on the vinyl which imparts a more “live” vibe to the mix.
Final Burn
In conclusion, World on Fire continues the power/prog tradition of quality releases from Ulterium Records. In a manner similar to how vocalist Hazel Jade literally breathed new life into Balance of Power, Tiffany Galchutt’s performance here has added an entirely new dimension of energy and style to Millennial Reign’s already dynamic symphonic power/prog metal identity. Bravo!
Track Listing:
1. Exousia (0:43)
2. Bring Me To Life (5:12)
3. Wandering (5:32)
4. Trust (5:07)
5. We Follow On (4:28)
6. Eternity (4:19)
7. Parousia (0:45)
8. Crack the Eastern Sky (4:25)
9. Tongues of Fire (4:37)
10. World on Fire (4:47)
11. Onward to Victory (4:30)
12. Allied Forces (4:50)
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