| Triumph and Power | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Studio album by Grand Magus | ||
| Released | January 29 2014 | |
| Recorded | September - November at Studio Wahnsinn in Stockholm, Sweden | |
| Genre | Heavy Metal | |
| Length | 46:11 | |
| Label | Nuclear Blast Records | |
| Producer | Nico Elgstrand | |
| Grand Magus chronology | ||
| The Hunt (2012) |
Triumph and Power (2014) |
Sword Songs (2016) |
Triumph and Power is the seventh studio album by the Swedish metal band Grand Magus. In contrast to prior works, Grand Magus would record their seventh album in the Fall of 2013 and release it in January 2014. Notably it would be the first Grand Magus album to feature American artist Anthony J. Roberts contributing to the album cover.
Background[]
Work would begin on Triumph and Power in the Fall of 2013. Vocalist JB Christofferson described the album as "really powerful, majestic and less 'hard rocky' than" previous album, The Hunt (2012).[1] Christofferson described Triumph and Power as "really the essence of this band".[2]
Grand Magus continued its concern with obtaining a strong drum sound, which Christofferson identified as a reaction against the strong focus on the guitar sound. He noted that in heavy metal the drums are extremely important, maybe more important than many people realize. There has been a tendency in "modern" metal to focus too much on a fat guitar sound, resulting in really weak sounding or fake sounding drums. In my experience, the fat guitar sound is a result of the combination of drums and bass guitar, rather than using all space/frequencies for the guitars. You have to have a really solid foundation to make things explode, hence the focus on the drums.[3]
Triumph and Power would be released circa January 2014 via Nuclear Blast Records, charting in several countries such as Belgium's Ultratop Charts (#192),[4] UK's Charts (#129),[5] The Swiss Charts (#59),[6] The Austrian Charts (#36),[7] The Finnish Charts (#26)[8] and The German Charts (#21).[9]
Triumph and Power would attain praise from numerous publications, such as Angry Metal Guy (3/5),[10] BraveWords (8/10),[11] Pop Matters (8/10),[12] The Metal Observer (8/10),[13] Blabbermouth (8.5/10)[14] and Metal Injection (8.5/10) among others.[15] Notably, Metal Assault would award a perfect 10/10 score, noting "the epic, Viking-like feel in the music" and cited "to become an album that will be remembered for a long time to come. It’s an instant classic, and by all means, true heavy metal perfection.".[16]
Tracklist[]
All songs written by Grand Magus.
- 1. On Hooves of Gold (5:24)
- 2. Steel Versus Steel (5:19)
- 3. Fight (4:06)
- 4. Triumph and Power (4:52)
- 5. Dominator (4:20)
- 6. Arv (1:57)
- 7. Holmgång (3:38)
- 8. The Naked and The Dead (3:02)
- 9. Ymer (2:54)
- 10. The Hammer Will Bite (6:54)
- 11. Blackmoon (3:45) (Digipak Bonus Track)
Personnel[]
Grand Magus[]
Guests and Other Personnel[]
- Nico Elgstrand - Engineer (Guitar, Bass, Vocals), Mixing, Producer
- Staffan Karlsson - Engineer, Recording (Drums)
- Rickard Bengtsson - Assistant Engineer (Drums)
- Ted Jensen - Mastering
- Claudia Rose - Photography
- Florian Karg - Layout
- Anthony J. Roberts - Artwork
External Links[]
References[]
| V·T·E Grand Magus | |
|---|---|
| Current Members | Janne Christoffersson • Mats Heden • Ludwig Witt |
| Past Members | Fredrik Liefvendahl • Sebastian Sippola |
| Studio Albums | Grand Magus • Monument • Wolf's Return • Iron Will • Hammer of The North • The Hunt • Triumph and Power • Sword Songs • Wolf God |
| Misc. Releases | Demo Two Thousand • It's Over / Twilight Train |