To put the result of the review in the front of it: This is exactly the way Power Metal has to sound and nothing different. These were my first thoughts after hearing HEIMDALL Hard As Iron, even if I were a bit anxious after reading the very cliché title and knowing that the band is geographically near to Rhapsody (means both are Italian bands). But this fear was blasted away quite fast and HEIMDALL sounds to me much more into the direction of Doomsword, than in the other direction. They are mixing Italian and even German Power Metal elements in their music, which results in a very powerful, but at the same time epic mix, which comes crystal-clear out of the boxes. You have to add to this a very powerful singer, who is excellent in normal and in slightly higher voices and who is bale to dominate the songs with his voice every time. Through the singer alone the whole album gets a whole level better.
If you listen to the CD very intensely, you will recognize a bit more Italian elements, but nothing to worry about that, because HEIMDALL are able to leave the clichés out and bring only the core of the typical Italian elements into their music, which gives everything a very unique tone. As I said, Hard As Iron is an marvellous record in the Power Metal Genre, which should not only be listened to by Italo Metal Fans.