In what turned out to be a broken play of sorts, Lost Horizon came to be with the foreclosure to what had previously been Highlander, or a seeming combination of Lost Horizon and Hammerfall. So built upon the same principles as the preceding, "Awakening the World" does just what it proclaims, and compared with Hammerfall, as if there'd be any way around it, the music is much more driven and determined -- in fact, turbulent comes quickly to mind with the riveting power-Metal riffs and swirling percussive arrangements. While Hammerfall maintains the more melodic stance, here the aggressive elements take the wind right out of the symphonic sanctity that's otherwise abound in such others as HF. For a debut recording, the output is nothing short of phenomenal.

Warrior Metal for all seasons, Lost Horizon embodies the best elements of Manowar, Iron Savior, Hammerfall indeed and inevitably, but also the majestic feel that lends prominence to much of the work of Malmsteen -- particularly where the classical influence lay within the atonality and subject matter both thematically and lyrically.

While at first glance, the realists who walk among us may be quick to dismiss Lost Horizon as a Metal parody. A few blazing notes of "The Quickening," or "Sworn in the Metal Wind" will offer equally quick deterrents to such an erred scope of thought -- and if they aren't enough, beware all ye of little mind, "Perfect Warrior" with one sharp swing of the blade will convince you and to your knees you'll gladly fall.

In Lost Horizon, you've got four fantasy-driven character actors adorned in barbaric dress amidst a cloudy backdrop who've set their sights on bringing the magic and might of the age-old Metal tradition back to the masses.