Review: Neptune – End OF Time

Pride & Joy Music (September 20^th, 2024)

Reviewer: David Pearce

Neptune are a Swedish melodic metal band that have been around since the 1980s. At that time, their sound encouraged a number of labels to meet the band and one of them funded the band’s debut EP. Unfortunately, it was unreleased, and this discouraged the band so much that they split up. Three decades later the EP’s tracks were released alongside some early demos in an album called ‘Land of Northern’, finally seeing the light of day in 2018. Two years later Neptune were back in the studio, with a line-up featuring three original members, where they recorded their first full length album, ‘Northern Steel’. This album reflected the band’s fascination with Nordic history, a fascination that continues with their new release ‘End of Time’. The band features vocalist Row Alex, bassist and fellow vocalist Jan Tosh Ason, guitarist Anders Olsson, keyboardist Johan Rost and drummer Jonas Wikstrom. So, now you know who they are, let’s dive into the new album.

The first track is ‘Metal Hearts’ and it’s a great start to the album. With elements of NWOBHM and mid-80s rock it immediately makes you sit up and take notice. The guitar solos of Anders Olsson are complemented by Johan Rost on keyboards and the growling vocals of Row Alex have power and range and give the song a real focus. Next we have ‘Brightest Steel’ which starts off with another excellent guitar solo before the drums of Jonas Wikstrom anchor the song and, along with the thumping bass of Jan Tosh Anson give this a proper old school rock feel. Title track ‘The End of Time’ is next and it has an atmospheric and epic flavour. Here, Alex becomes storyteller as he recounts the start of the journey to battle of the final Viking King Harold Hardrada. The passing of the Viking age was seen as the end of time by his followers. ‘Revenge’ is appropriately militaristic with Wikstrom’s drums mimicking the marching feet of warriors looking to extract a full measure of revenge upon their enemies. It is perhaps the most immediate song on the album with its vision of an avenging army captured by the music and vocals. ‘Motherland’ sounds like Celtic rock with the guitar and bass opening and serves as an excellent counterpoint to the previous track with an air of satisfied honour as their mission has borne fruit.

‘Sun Goes Down’ is melodic metal at its best. It’s more upbeat than the previous tracks and has a strong echo of countrymen Europe which I really liked. The icing on the cake is a singalong chorus that will definitely go down well live. ‘Nepturion’ has an opening guitar lick that reminded me of Gimme, Gimme, Gimme by a slightly more famous set of Swedes. It takes the more epic feel of the first few tracks and marries that with a slower, more deliberate sound that works really well. ‘Power’ takes Neptune back to NWOBHM territory with a song that could easily sit on a Judas Priest album and which gives Alex another chance to really show off the power of his vocals, a power that seems to come without any straining. The penultimate track ‘Highlands’ is another song with a powerful and effective chorus together with more excellent drumming by Wikstrom. Finally we come to ‘Northern Warriors’ an elegiac and effective ballad that serves as a superb finale to this album. It’s the only track that showcases the more reflective side of the group. Despite being atypical, or perhaps because of that, it is definitely my favourite track on the album.

Neptune may have taken a long time to get to this stage, but ‘End of Time‘ is an album that reflects a group of warriors that still has a lot to offer.

Tracklist: