Triumph and Power

Triumph and Power is the seventh full-length album by Swedish heavy metal band Grand Magus. It was released on January 31, 2014 on Nuclear Blast. 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".[1]

Triumph and Power
Studio album by
Grand Magus
ReleasedJanuary 31, 2014
GenreHeavy metal
Length42:26
LabelNuclear Blast
ProducerNico Elgstrand
Grand Magus chronology
The Hunt
(2012)		 Triumph and Power
(2014)		 Sword Songs
(2016)

Recording

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.[1]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[2]
Blabbermouth8.5/10[3]
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles8/10[4]
MetalSucks[5]
Popmatters8/10[6]
Sputnik Music[7]

The album has received generally favourable reviews. In Popmatters, Dean Brown praised Triumph and Power for "lift[ing] even the weariest of hearts with the power found in its mountain-shaking riffs, rhythms and vocal hooks" that provided "pure heavy metal made for any decade".[6] Dave Schalek observed in About.com that the album featured stronger songwriting than previous album The Hunt, with many of the songs assuming an "anthem-like quality".[2] Describing Grand Magus as "one of the coolest working the heavy circuit today", Greg Pratt wrote in Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles that the band's traditionalist approach to heavy metal was "meaty, weighty, metal, and proud".[4] Greg Fisher of Sputnik Music similarly described the band as a "prime traditional metal purveyor" and suggested that Triumph and Power was "nothing short of triumphant" in that it "clearly matches up to the output of the luminaries that have inspired it".[7] Considering the band "a subtler Scandinavian answer to Manowar," Ray Van Horn Jr. praised the band in Blabbermouth for the sincerity of the album's "knocking riffs, whumping beats and mead-backed combat choruses [that] any diehard can appreciate."[3]

Track listing
  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)

References
  1. Dick, Chris (March 7, 2014). "JB Christoffersson (Grand Magus) interviewed". Decibel Magazine. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  2. Schalek, Dave. "Grand Magus - Triumph and Power Review". About.com. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  3. Van Horn Jr., Ray. "GRAND MAGUS - "Triumph And Power"". Blabbermouth. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  4. Pratt, Greg. "Grand Magus - Triumph and Power". Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  5. Wingerschmidt, Kip (January 31, 2014). "Album Review: Grand Magus Triumph on Triumph and Power". Metalsucks. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  6. Brown, Dean (February 5, 2014). "Grand Magus: Triumph and Power". Popmatters. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  7. Fisher, Greg (February 8, 2014). "Grand Magus - Triumph and Power". Sputnik Music. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
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