IRONFLAME – Where Madness Dwells (Splatter Vinyl)

High Roller Records, gold/ black splatter vinyl, insert, ltd 350, For Ohio-based Andrew D’Cagna there is jut no rest! The multi-instrumentalist has been playing in more than half a dozen different bands over the years, some of them quite renowned within the metal scene. He explains: “I am still an active member of both Brimstone Coven and Icarus Witch. I have been in Brimstone since 2011 and I joined Icarus Witch in 2017. Both bands are currently working on new material.“ Ironflame, however, is his very on project: “The principal goal of Ironflame has always been to write the music I want to hear as a heavy metal fan. I think the key to its growth is to always keep things fun and try my best to give fans music that grows continually while still retaining the original identity of the band.“ The origins of the band go back to 2016: “In this year I lost a good friend who was also a great vocalist. I came up with the concept of Ironflame as a tribute to him. The original idea was to only release one album but people seemed to really like the songs and it started to grow from there. I was introduced to heavy metal in 1988 when I was twelve years old. I acquired an Iron Maiden cassette and I fell in love instantly.” »Where Madness Dwells« is Ironflame’s fourth longplay album, and Andrew describes it as following: “The biggest difference between this and our previous albums is definitely the lyrical concepts and the overall atmosphere of the album. Until now I usually wrote about epic themes and the lyrics were based much more on fantasy. This album is much more personal lyrically and deals with subjects based on reality. I wrote the album at the beginning of the pandemic. My best friend had just lost his battle with cancer and the country’s political climate was in a very volatile state.” For »Where Madness Dwells« Andrew D’Cagna has once again handled all the instruments himself. Regarding the vocals, it’s easy to hear some parallels to the early work of Bruce Dickinson for Iron Maiden on »Where Madness Dwells«. The multi-talented Andrew D’Cagna does not beg to differ: “Iron Maiden is the first heavy metal band I was introduced to in my youth, so it would only make sense that they have been a big influence on me as a songwriter. It’s also fair to say that my singing voice bears a lot of similarities to Bruce Dickinson, so yes, I totally understand why you would make that comparison. I definitely take such comparisons as a compliment.”