The story of this album is forged thusly; after heroically dying in the greatest battle of all time at the hands of goblins, Prince Angus awakes in the underworld, realm of martyrs. Remembering that his homeland of Scotland and, indeed the galaxy, are still under threat he endeavours to return. After loseing his hammer he finds the mighty sword of power, Sixcalibur and uses it to return to the land of the living as the new, improved gold and black clad warrior Angus McSix! Ready to save the galaxy from his past enemies Angus realises that his escape from the Underworld back to the mortal realm opened up a gateway that a much darker power has travelled through. Archdemon Seebulon has now entered our world and seeks to claim it for himself. This first chapter in the story, Angus McSix and the Sword of Power follows Angus McSix aka; Thomas Winkler (Vocals/keys) and his allies the buff Berserker, Skaw (Manu Lotter : drums (ex- Rhapsody Of Fire)) and Queen of the Laser Amazons, Thaletsris (Thalia Bellazecca: Guitar (Ex- Frozen Crown)) as they battle against the evil Seebulon (Sebastian Levermann: Bass, backing vocals and guitar (Orden Ogan)) and his army to see that the universe does not fall under his dominion! Immerse yourselves and marvel at the world of fantasy Angus McSix have created as they use unicorns, flying horses and dinosaurs encased in moon metal forged by Samurai's to fight epic battles against Seebulons evil forces of goblins, dragons and hellish fireflies. Hold on tight as this first chapter takes you along for the ride.
Now... personally I am still torn about all of this and for those that are unaware of what happened let me give you a little backstory of how I understand things. I loved Gloryhammer with Winkler at the helm and was distraught when they fired him in 2021. When Gloryhammer introduced new singer Sozos Michael soon after I was sceptical that anyone would come close to Thomas Winklers vocal skills. Annoyingly Michael has done an amazing job and I, along with many others, have accepted him as the new Prince of Fife and as such still bloody love Gloryhammer, but as awkward as this may be we had not forgotten Winkler. I always knew Thomas Winkler would carry on making music and it was guaranteed that whatever he did next was going to be EPIC! However, when he unveiled this new concept of Angus McSix in July 2022 I felt a little conflicted. Now, I could totally have the wrong end of the stick here but here's why I find this all a little strange; Angus McSix have signed to Napalm Records, which is the same label as Gloryhammer as well as two of Chris Bowes' other bands Alestorm and Wizardthrone... awkward coincidence or overly confrontational? I always assumed the Scottish part of the story was because the founder of Gloryhammer, the aforementioned Christopher Bowes (Alestorm, etc) is Scottish and thought it would be funny to have his homeland as the main stay of events, yet Winkler (who is Swiss) is still basing his Angus character as deep rooted in Scottish heritage, however lost in translation some of it is, which is something he could have easily avoided. I get that the original Angus McFife and now Angus McSix ARE Thomas Winkler and as such are a continuation of his character and story of his previous incarnation from when he was in Gloryhammer, which I guess is something he is well within his right to continue. However, Gloryhammer replaced Winkler with their new Angus (Sozos Michael) and now the original Angus (Tomas Winkler) has a new outlet to continue his journey. So now there are two Angus' who are not the same? I think that what I am trying to say is that this is already getting confusing. I already got lost in the mulitverse of various Marvel movies to the point where I don't give a shit anymore and now they are doing this to music as well??!! I'm not too sure how much more I can take!! I remember when life was a lot simpler. We once had a band (Gloryhammer) that seemed a bit different. They played great music and didn't take themselves too seriously. They had a story and stuck with it, they sung of epic battles defending Scotland (and the universe) against goblins and the evil wizard Zargothrax (Chris Bowes' character) by riding flying horses, mystical dragons and unicorns. The hero being the mighty Angus McFife who wields a fierce battle hammer and has many adventures. Now we have another awesome band also defending Scotland and the rest of the world who battle the demonic forces of Seebulon (Levermann) also with goblins, flying horses, unicorns and armoured dinosaurs. Our hero being of a similar name but now has a huge sword. Lucky Scotland I guess... but seriously is there room for these two very similar bands that have pretty much the same concept? Not just in the same scene...but on the same label? As a bit of a side note, and as some sort of vague comparison... I love pirate metal. I particularly love it when you have a few pirate metal bands on the same bill. I enjoy the experience of the bands different takes on the theme, even when Alestorm and Rumahoy play together there are a few subtle differences between the two. When it comes to Gloryhammer and Angus McSix surely it would be like seeing the same band twice? Not that I'm even thinking that the two bands would ever appear on the same bill together...(that's way too soon to think about right?!)!! I just hope I don't ever have to choose between the two when it comes to seeing them live. At this exact moment in time, if I did have to choose then it would be Angus McSix but only because I am yet to see them live and I have been to a fair few Gloryhammer shows. I do feel like I may be over thinking this situation a bit too much and should this conundrum ever occur it would be a problem for future me to worry about! Anyway, I think I'm supposed to be reviewing this album not having an emotional breakdown over it...
The first track from Angus McSix and the Sword of Power was released in January this year and is entitled "Master of the Universe", not to be confused with and in no way related to "Masters of the Galaxy" by Gloryhammer, it is a tongue in cheek introduction of how Angus McSix came to be. "Glory left my hammer but now I wield a sword" does kind of say it all really and sets up this album to be a new collection of adventures for our now sword bearing hero. It is a great opening track and a brilliant introduction to the wonder of their particular blend of symphonic/power metal. Second track "Sixcalibur" seems to be of a more serious nature in theme, and holds a steady driven pace. Here we meet the sword of power that Angus is now in possession of and is the beginning of the anthemic chanting chorus that this genre is so well known for. The third track was the last of the songs to come out before the album dropped. "Laser Shooting Dinosaur" came out on April 19th and I was so obsessed with it I actually forgot that the rest of the album came out 2 days later as this was on repeat for quite a while. "Laser Shooting Dinosaur" is one of their more light hearted party metal style songs that is pure genius! It kicks off with a great 80's style video game intro and a stupidly catchy chorus. The music video is an animated adventure of Angus on his armoured dinosaur with his fellow bandmates fighting Seebulon and his minions. The rest of Angs McSix and the Sword of Power is a continuation of Angus's epic journey to victory. Rammed full of up beat, dramatic and powerful songs. Along the way we have and introduction to Thalestris which is another slightly more serious number with "Amazons of Caledonia". Each track tells it's own tale and by the end you are up to speed on the bigger picture, it is an energetic yet exhausting journey which takes a good 45 minutes to complete but what an epic adventure it is. Stand out tracks for me apart from "Laser Shooting Dinosaur" are "Starlord of the Sixtus Stellar System", "Ride To Hell" and "Fireflies of Doom". The instrumental intro "The Vision in the Fires" into "Eternal Warrior" is also something pretty special. There has been an ongoing competition on Angus McSix' website and FB about the official 'lore order' version as currently the tracklisting on the digital version is not quite right the intro "The Vision in the Fires" at the moment sits at track 7, however all has now been revealed. Incidentally if you did want to really pick apart every single detail about the meaning of the songs and their part in the story line then please visit the comment section on any said 'lore order' YouTube video to really explore and confuse yourself. There is not a single dull track on this album and finishing it off with the fun/cheeky bonus track "Just a Fool Will Play Tricks on Angus McSix" tops it off nicely and leaves you feeling a little off guard. Musically it is incredibly adept and the overall sound is huge. Winkler has chosen well when it comes to his bands talent and they all bring something to the mix. The most obvious influence being the awesome Sebastian Levermann of the mighty Orden Ogan, shining brightest of them all. The German folk/power metal giants are themselves masters of storytelling whose back catalogue loosely follow the tale of a cursed immortal who is forced to keep moving through time. Levermann has a big part to play both in terms of his character as well as his role within the band. Playing the part of the evil Seebulon (very similar to Chris Bowes' character, Zargothrax ), Sebastian looks to have completely embraced his bad guy role and seems to be having a blast. His musical influence is also very prevalent, because they are so similar to Goryhammer it is really hard not to draw comparison to the music as well as the theme but as a fan of Orden Ogan I see an awful lot of Levermann/Ogan style especially in the music which does balance things out a bit and is certainly no bad thing.
I adore Angus McSix and the Sword of Power as a debut album and I welcome Thomas Winkler back on the scene with open arms. I know this album will be a huge success and will take them all over the world. There are scores of people waiting to follow the future journey's that Angus McSix will have. I am always pleasantly surprised just how much of an audience power metal really does have, be it a guilty pleasure to some or an obsession for others, this music is filling venues with a huge diverse section of the metal community. The fantastical themes, stories and amazing technical musical skill fills you with energy and wonder. It is something that everyone can get on board with for pure escapism and just totally geek out to together! Whilst I may have my own personal concerns about their longevity and maybe some kind of copyright infringements or something down the line I will put these thoughts to one side and just enjoy their music, as I do with Gloryhammer, for as long as I can.
Angus McSix and the Sword of Power is available digitally through the Angus McSix band camp page with some lovely physical copies available through Angus McSix's website and Napalm Records.
