The ’90s were a dark time for heavy metal, especially in the United States. To remedy that, Virginia legends Twisted Tower Dire formed in 1995 to try and breath new light into true heavy metal.
There are few US power metal bands that I personally consider as important as Twisted Tower Dire. They formed in 1995 and released their debut album The Curse of Twisted Tower in 1999 while remaining very active through the 2000s – this is far and away the lowest point for the genre. Outside of a handful of exceptions, US power metal was on its last breath, hiding away in the darkness. Twisted Tower Dire were the light in that darkness and the torchbearers for the American style of power metal, helping keep it alive. They have a long and storied history as a band, filled with its fair share of successes and tragedies alike, but it’s been close to eight years since we’ve had any proper activity from them – until now that is. The wait is over and their highly anticipated sixth studio album, Wars in the Unknown, is finally upon us.