Female fronted Floridians, who opened for Blind Guardian’s 2010 US tour, issue their sophomore effort with Sabrina Valentine at the helm (third overall). Her voice is a mix of Kim Goss (Sinergy) when in tough girl mood, aka faster songs (see title track, which has a similarity to that defunct Finnish supergroup), Simone Simons’ (Epica) cooing in the more demure moments and her own timbre. After ‘Beyond The Wall’, an all-encompassing intro (wind, thunder, ravens, galloping horses) that threatens to overstay its welcome, it’s right into video/single ‘After The Fall’, a lively, multi-layered vocal romp: double bass driven, real metal without losing the feminine touch. Certainly doesn’t sound American (which is a compliment!).

Screaming guitars kick off ‘Forever Brave’, but the strong sense of melody is what ingratiates Seven Kingdoms to your ears. A deeper, chugging riff opens ‘Flame Of Olympus’, while ‘Kardia’ is an acoustic ballad that ultimately gets a little electrified (and second, male voice), although when Valentine is solo it recalls Joan Baez’s original version of Judas Priest’s oft covered ‘Diamonds & Rust’. Riding on the back of such a refined number, ‘Fragile Minds Collapse’ feels even faster/heavier, as it showcases the bass. ‘A Debt Paid In Steel’ (great title!) is a spoken word sample to the keyboard begun ‘The King In The North’ finale. Strong effort!