The next chapter in the Tony Martin saga finds the themes not as dark as the previous album, but the production and sound are more dialed in. Norse mythology tends to be the dominant subject matter. The most impressive preformance comes from Martin, whose vocals are perfectly layered. You can also hear more nuance in his voice, and he sounds less like David Coverdale. Despite this being the band's foray into the 90s, it is still heavily haunted by the 90s, as evident on songs like "The Law Maker" that suffers from more tropes than the hookier "Jerusalem" which has a hooky chorus.
"The Sabbath Stones" is darker and feels more like the band. This might be one of the album's strongest songs. "Odins Court" is a dramatic ballad that feels like an intro for the song "Valhalla" that it leads into. The song is epic but ripe with metal tropes. Though if any band is going to employ these, it should be led by the creator of the genre.
While it has been accused of not blending with the rest of the album, "Feels Good to Me" might be more accessible, but it is a powerfully sung and tunefully written power ballad. The chorus does sound more like Whitenake, but they nailed this style of music. The album closes with the more metallic "Heaven in Black". I will give this one a 9.5; it is a solid effort from this line-up.
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