Masterplan – Time To Be King (2010)

Power Metal’s super group (yes, another one) Masterplan is back after keeping us waiting for a follow-up to their acclaimed “MK II” album. With “Time To Be King” the band is poised into becoming one of the premier Power Metal bands, and they surely have the correct personnel to achieve this feat. We think the album is aptly titled for what Masterplan is set to do with this great release.

With the return of Jørn Lande, the band again has a very strong and versatile vocalist. And featuring legends Roland Grapow and Mike Terrana, on guitars and drums, you can’t ask for a more experience and overall excellent musical foundation for Masterplan. After the hype created by their single “Far From The End Of The World”, the full-length release is even better than the small sample with got with this single.

The album starts of with a very impressive “Fiddle Of Time” song, that features Jørn signing his lungs out and providing a very powerful performance. “Blow Your Winds” provides a similar fast-paced Power Metal epic that shows Masterplan for what they are, true Power Metal warriors that excel in every aspect of the genre. Their first single song “Far From The End Of The World” is probably the best song of the album, since it has some intricate whirling drumming and perfectly crafted keyboard arrangements, and on top of them Jørn’s dramatic voice.

However, after “Time To Be King” the band drops their songwriting quality considerably and some of the songs start dragging and being a bit dull. Like on “Lonely Winds Of War”, where the constant up and down tempo changes make this song drag, but not too badly since the track is rescued by Jørn’s vocals. Same goes for the rest of the songs, they are somewhat solid, but feel a bit disconnected from the first half of the album.

Musically, the album features a hefty combination of epic Power Metal songs that are both fast paced and brilliantly composed, with Power ballads that break up the pace of the album. We love a good mixture of power and melody, and for the most part the band does a good job, but other times it boggles down the overall flow of the album.

There is no need to praise the brilliant guitar playing and masterful drumming in this release, since it’s to be expected from the quality musicians behind the instruments. They keyboards are very epic and powerful, and very well crafted to envelop the music in a very solid atmosphere.

Overall, Masterplan’s “Time To Be King” is a very solid release from this band. However, the album does get a bit tired by the end of it, and if they would have switched around the order of the songs, we would probably enjoy it more. If you are a Power Metal fan, you should definitely buy this album, since it’s a very solid release.

Release: May 25th, 2010

Country: Germany