The sophomore album of Rolf Kasparek and crew provided the bridge from this band's early thrash/roots into their new, hard rock-inflected power metal. Obviously, for an earlier album there was little production quality to be found but this still manages to be decent. A lot of Running Wild's song writing style can be attributed to this album; while they have always been an amazing and entertaining band, everyone will admit they have a knack for repeatedly using the same song formats and even the same basic riff structures.

On songs like "Gods of Iron", "Evil Spirit", and the title track, you can detect what's to come in the future from this band, whereas "Realm of Shades" and "Fight the Oppression" are more similar to the material on the band's first album 'Gates to Purgatory'. While there isn't any truly standout material on this album, this was their last work that could be deemed truly underground, for the next 15 years and 9 full length albums will take this band to the height of astounding musicianship, respectability and endurance in the European metal scene. A must have for fans of this band, but avoidable as far as anyone else is concerned.

© 2000 pizarro