Missed Albums Review: Triumpher – Storming the Walls

Style: US power metal, progressive metal, epic doom (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Iced Earth, Atlantean Kodex, Gamma Ray, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Review by: Sam
Country: Greece
Release date: 20 March 2023

One of my favorite things in music is when power metal vocalists go AAAAAAA. It tickles something special in my brain as a singer does away with all logic and belts out the most insane notes at unbelievable volume. Daniel Heiman’s ludicrousness turned Lost Horizon into legend and also adds a whopping two points to any album he sings on; hence, when Sacred Outcry released Towers of Gold earlier this year and had Heiman singing at full potentiAAAAAl, I thought power metal peaked in 2023—heck, maybe even in the entire decade. But little did I know that there was another band on the horizon to blow me the fuck awAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY this year. Enter Triumpher.

Holy hell, I mean, what a singer! Antonis Vailas has a ginormous range and reinforces that with Dragon Ball Z levels of power and grit. I am not being hyperbolic when I say that he reaches a level near comparable to the god Daniel Heiman himself as he belts out his high notes, and the grit he displays in aggressive parts is similarly impressive, evoking other power metal gods such as Matt Barlow (Iced Earth) at his best or Russell Allen (Symphony X) in general. The guy is vicious in his delivery and a huge aspect of what makes Storming the Walls so appealing. 

And Vailas is not the only one, the rest of the band also engages in plenty of savagery. Whereas Sacred Outcry was at times let down by middling riffs and plodding drumming, Triumpher suffer from no such ailments: we get power metal riffs so nasty they border on death metal, gargantuan epic doom riffs with thundering drumming underneath and majestic synths on top, spidering technical prog riffs as they transition, black metal influenced tremolo picking and high octane drumming – the creativity and variety simply don’t let up. Contrast is provided too – classic campfire acoustic sections frequently rear their heads – and Triumpher perform them every bit as magically as the 80s power metal greats. On the other side of the spectrum, did I mention the harsh vocals yet? Yeah, I don’t know who does them since they seem to be backing vocals and no one’s listed for that in the credits, but whoever’s responsible sounds massive.

So the performances are all through the roof, but how is the songwriting? Rather meandering, which is both a strength and a weakness. In a genre often bound by rigid form – even in its progressive variations – Triumpher’s approach is refreshing, but conventions also typically exist because they work on some level, and without big central hooks to latch onto the songs are at risk of becoming a formless stream of theatrics. While no song on its own becomes aimless or lacking in distinctive elements, as a whole Storming the Walls does blend together a little by the end of it, something which is exacerbated by the vocal melody writing. Instead of singing conventional melodies, Valias frequently engages in what I like to call “power talking” – a style common in epic metal born to theatrically convey the band’s epic tales to the listener. The downside of this style is that it lacks catchiness, which doesn’t help with the aforementioned homogeneity aspect.

But criticism aside, I must also mention the highlights. The opening combo is ridiculously strong, setting the stage first in “Journey/Europa Victrix” with those magical acoustics I mentioned earlier, giving full space for Valias to display his insane range as he belts out AAAAAs of legend, and then marching into “The Thunderer” which does exactly as the track title prescribes by unleashing a maniacal riff and vocal assault. The title track – though losing itself a little bit in the middle – leans fully into epic doom and sounds incredibly imposing. “Esoteric Church of Dagon” is another riff assault but even more intense than “The Thunderer,” strongly bringing Manticora’s latest album to mind for its extreme and progressive metal influences, and “The Blazing Circle” shines for its triumphant, AAAAA-pilled, chorus, although its poor transition into an acoustic outro makes for a disappointingly anti-climactic end to the album.

When I first heard Storming the Walls, I legitimately thought I had an all-time power metal classic on my hands. That turned out to be not quite the case as the band has some hiccups with the songwriting, but either way this is incredible for a debut and I must applaud them for their playing. Even on tracks that lose direction or lack melodies to latch onto I find myself blown away by every other riff, vocal burst, or maniacal piece of drumming. Triumpher have something special in them, and I desperately hope they one day reach their full potential.

Recommended tracks: The Thunderer, Esoteric Church of Dagon, Divus de Mortuus
You may also like: Sacred Outcry, Starborn, Hunted, Manticora
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: No Remorse Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Triumpher is:
– Antonis “Mars Triumph” Valias (vocals, bass, lyrics)
– Apostolos Papadimitriou (guitars)
– Christopher Tsakiropoulos (guitars)
– John “Maelstrom” Votsis (drums)