Lost Horizon
Awakening The World

Lucky that the cover can't be seen too well. Because if you had it in hand, you'd have at least three reactions: a big laugh, throwing away the cover, case, and CD, and finally a golden shower from a sadistic/fetishist porn movie.
No because the four fools coming down from the sky are truly the greatest buffoons in the history of metal, and I'm not joking. Did you really think you could give the title to a group of pandas like Marduk or Carpathian Forest? Or did some defender award the golden palm to Rob Halford's studded dusters or Eric Adams' Harley Davidson entrances? Manowar and Metalium tried, but Lost Horizon with their Braveheart outfits, idiotic stage names (Transcendental Protagonist, Cosmic Antagonist, Preternatural Transmogrifyer, Ethereal Magnanimus), and lyrics as masters of the world and galactic fools couldn't help but win the contest.

Now, after this brief introductory paragraph, you might wonder: if they're so foolish, why did you give them a 5? Or even better, why did you review them? Alas, for those still showering (prostate trickles?), the four fools also know how to play, and alas, they do it damn well.
This is the best power metal album my ears have ever had the pleasure of listening to: fast, powerful, with atmospheric and non-overwhelming keyboards (as in Rhapsody or Fairyland), but most importantly, original! I'm not joking, in 2001, power metal, the most overhyped genre in rock history, created something truly commendable. The combo is composed of Swedish bassist, singer, and drummer, and a phenomenal (not technically, but for his prodigious composing vein) Polish guitarist named Wojtek Lisicki (who has since left the band after the release of the second album in 2003).

However, the rating I would give to a power metal album released after 2000, as good as it may be, would be a nice 4... the 5 comes from the bald dwarf with the cape you see on the cover: his name is Daniel Heiman or Ethereal Magnanimus, but it's better to leave it at that. The fact is that I challenge you to find a voice higher, more powerful, cleaner, and meaner at the same time, in the history of metal. Just hear the first three high notes of "Sworn In Metal Wind" and you might wonder if that's a human being or not. A must-have at all costs.