Stormzone – ‘Immortal Beloved’

Power Metal

Escape Music

Release Date – January 23rd, 2026

Review By Smudge Smith

-lengthI’m going to be honest – I have played this to absolute death because I enjoyed it so much. Stormzone were an AOR band back in the day but have since developed into a mighty metal monster and this is without doubt the finest thing they have ever committed to whatever medium you like to listen to. Hailing from the wonderful city of Belfast, this is their eighth full length since their formation over twenty years ago.

Opener ‘Steel Meets Ice’ sets the stall out straightaway with some superb chunky riffage, loads of double kick action and soaring vocals. Then, for me, the track of the album, the utterly superb ‘Tyrannosaur’, opens with a twin guitar intro before it eases smoothly into a fist-pumping metal anthem with a hook so big you could catch Moby Dick. ‘My Immortal Beloved’ has a vicious riff and a barrage of kick drums over another quality vocal melody before the storming ‘Stand In Line’. ‘Hammerfall’ has a keyboard intro over some crunchy guitar lines before they leave, then singer John ‘Harv’ Harbison takes over before they all join in on the huge chorus. This is going to sound massive live and is bound to get the fists pumping.

‘Hands Held High’ is another fist pumper, then the crushing ‘Ironclad’ does some serious damage with Harbison going to the top of his range. We get a power ballad on ‘Blood And Tears’, which starts with a beautiful bright piano line before the molten metal of ‘The Reckoning’, where Harv lets out a proper scream before the epic ‘Light Of Day’, which has a keyboard intro very similar to Sweet’s ‘Fox On The Run’. ‘Until I Found You’ rattles along at a fair old clip before it settles into a power metal pounder and leads to another on ‘Heart Of Fire’ before the punch-up metal of ‘Facing Time’ closes the album in fine style.

There’s me thinking that the power metal domain is strictly for the Europeans. How wrong I was! Stormzone can go up against the best of them and put up a decent fight. All involved should be justly proud of what they have created here. Superb songs, excellent, memorable melodies and some world-class performances. Guitarists David Shields and Shaun Nelson-Frame (who also produces) have the gift of the riff and fluid fingers too; the rhythm section are tighter than a duck’s bum, and singer Harv makes it sound effortless. Awesome, fantastic, superb and loads of other adjectives that don’t seem enough to describe this.

Track List –

Titanic (Steel Meets Ice)

Tyrannosaur (Screaming In The Night)

My Immortal Beloved

Stand In Line

The Hammer Has To Fall

Hands Held High

Ironclad

Blood And Tears

The Reckoning

The Light Of Day

Until I Found You

Heart On Fire

Facing Time