Review by Greg on October 14, 2025.

Concealed behind an artwork that seems preserved from the early 00s, Hope And Turmoil is instead the brand-new second album of Finnish power metal quintet Everlore. Despite the rather nostalgic presentation, their home country, and the fact that they mention Stratovarius among their chief influences, it's worth mentioning and commendable that they're far from your average, stereotypical Europower band...

...although they did their best to hide this, choosing to open the album with their most Strato-esque song. 'Warrior Hearts' brings to the table all the acrobatic guitars, airy synths, and double bass you might need for the day (albeit with a twist), and also introduces the rather Timo Kotipelto-like vocals of Arto Ala-Seppälä. The man isn't gonna be the most impressive vocalist you've ever heard in the genre, as the song's chorus begs to be sung, like, an octave higher, especially when saying badass lines such as 'Blast off! Ride on! Death or glory awaits', and I'm not really a fan of the way he drags his notes at the end (you'll understand what I mean as soon as you put the album on). That said, I love me some Avantasia despite always thinking that Tobias Sammet really should limit himself to writing songs only, so it's safe to say that they're far from ruining my experience with Everlore.

It also helps that the band offers way more than that, as tracks go by. Already 'Wilderness' settles on a different plane, redolent of faster, riff-heavy bands like Persuader, and tracks such as 'Burn The Skies' or late highlight 'Inferno' have more in common with Running Wild (the former's riff is basically rewriting 'Riding the Storm' and I love it) or Judicator rather than, say, Sonata Arctica. That also explains the frankly misplaced brutal acceleration at the end of 'Warrior Hearts', which was the twist I hinted at earlier. 'I Am The Virus' is basically a full-on classic speed metal cut. A logical consequence is that Petteri Milan's drumming is generally way more than a mere metronomic timekeeper for the music, with lots of interesting fills. On the opposite end of the spectrum you get those excellent longer songs, like the 'Nightfall'-esque cavalcade of 'Kingdom Of One' or the all-around epic 'What Once Was', which wins my personal award for the song that grew on me the most, including some tasteful acoustic work. Speaking of which, it's almost uncanny how the guitars of Juuso Virnes and Samu Pettersson are simply at the top of their game in each and every one of these environments. In terms of gorgeous lead melodies, we really get the best part of the band's Finnish DNA.

Like I often point out in my reviews, the album length is an aspect worth discussing. Hope And Turmoil is particularly weighty, with almost a full hour of music. Yet, more or less all its songs kept me interested, and I can't say I disliked any of them. Even the soothing ballad 'Dreamless', which calmly closes the album with the aid of violins and flutes and is also the longest song here, is far from boring you to death, and is instead a nice, relaxing episode. There was one moment that left me indifferent, though, and it's 'Adventure Metal', being a straightforward, self-referential number, not unlike some weird power metal equivalent to Metallica's 'Whiplash', lacking the nuance and sometimes progressive touches of its peers. The band claims to be influenced by 80s NWOBHM as well, and since said influence is nowhere to be found in the tracklist, it feels shoehorned in this Iron Maiden-like gallop (paired with Ala-Seppälä's suspiciously Dickinsonian vocals) that is ultimately less engaging than it should have been. While I see the scope and vision of the remaining 9 tracks, and Everlore must have needed an official band anthem – although I suspect Twilight Force might have used the title earlier – I just think it doesn't really add anything noteworthy to an otherwise consistently great work.

Closing, I'm definitely not saying that single-genre-centered album are a thing of the past, and that every band should now cater to the ADHD-drenched audience by constantly presenting something new with each and every song, lest they run the risk of losing the listeners' shorter and shorter attention spans – God forbid – but I'd say that an album like Hope And Turmoil is, by default, bound to be more interesting than an average one keeping the same style for its whole duration. Plus, there's also plenty of awesome songs. It's safe to say that anyone who has even a passing interest in power metal will find at least something to like here.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10