Two years after their acclaimed Firesoul album, German power metallers Brainstorm return with their eleventh album Scary Creatures and among the fans of the genre this usually creates a stir, since the band has had a quite remarkable run of high quality releases throughout the years, with just two dips to mention (that being 2005’s Liquid Monster and 2009’s Memorial Roots), and with Scary Creatures they attempt to avoid a third one of that kind.

Two elements that had always ensured Brainstorm stood apart from the majority of other power metal bands were Andy Franck’s voice and the band’s hand for heavy riffing and at times a light thrashy note and opener “The World to See”, after its dark, ominous intro, brings all of these trademarks and marks the album straight-up Brainstorm from the get-go. Sluggish “How Much Can You Take” is another example for a different, yet just as familiar side of the band, just the repetitiveness of the chorus sucks some of the energy from the track, while “We Are…” is a highly catchy track that suffers a bit from the relative thinness of the “We are, we are” in the second half of the song.

While this might hint at Scary Creatures being the third relative dud in the band’s history, things are not as bad as they may seem at first glance. “Where Angels Dream” is a powerful, galloping cruncher with soaring vocals that invokes memories of the band’s classics and surely will be mentioned in the same breath rather sooner than later, something that the more brooding title track is a little bit away, but still is in line with the Germans’ high quality output of the past. Driving “Twisted Ways” and the somewhat Nevermore-esque “Scars in your Eyes” also can be put in the win column, showing that Brainstorm are not just a one-trick pony.

In best Brainstorm tradition, the production is clear and powerful, giving their songs the right environment to thrive, while the execution also does its more than rock solid part. The only deductions come from some songs lacking in the energy department and a few inconsistencies along the way, but that doesn’t take away too much from the fact that the Germans continue their string of good albums.

Scary Creatures is not their best album, but neither resides in the lower regions of the already mentioned two albums that were not quite up to par, so fans of the a little heavier side of power metal should definitely check out Brainstorm’s eleventh symphony, even though it has its flaws.