Fire Meets Ice: Sacred’s Debut Burns Bright!

After being On Fire last week (haha – see what I did there?), today we’re flipping the script and bringing some of that fire to ice with Sacred’s debut album Fire to Ice! (Yeah, I guess you could say I’m on fire today.) Sacred is a supergroup that rose from the ashes of the heavy metal band Amnesia in 2019, featuring members from Crystal Eyes, Katana, and even Vicious Rumors. This album has been a long time coming—seriously, they seem to have worked on it for 4-5 years! Their first single, Wasting Away (track three on the album), dropped all the way back in 2020, and it took another four years before they gave us another taste with Caught in a Snowstorm (track five). Finally, on January 10th, 2025, Fire to Ice was unleashed via Stormspell Records—available on CD, as far as I can tell.

The Sound of Fire Meets Ice - In A Nutshell (and it's cheesy looking album cover...)

I’ll be real with you—when I first saw that album cover (a fire lion towering over a snowy mountainside), my gut reaction was, Oh god, this is gonna be one of those super cheesy EU power metal albums, isn’t it? With that mindset, I hit play… and man, was I pleasantly surprised. Sure, there’s some European power metal influence, but it’s not the over-the-top, ultra-cheesy stuff like Hammerfall or Sabaton (though the band does list Hammerfall as a point of reference). Personally, I think their other influences fit much better: Lost Horizon? Check—explosive vocals. Queensrÿche? Check—instrumentally tight, plus the perfect vocal tone to match. Judas Priest? Check—because let’s be honest, who doesn’t love Priest? Sacred strikes a balance between melody and riff-heavy power, blending elements of 80s US prog metal (think Queensrÿche again) with just the right amount of melody—never too noodly, just enough to keep things dynamic.

And speaking of dynamics, let’s talk vocals—because Gustav Blide absolutely kills it here. The guy delivers an incredible performance that truly sells the Fire to Ice theme. Production-wise, it’s modern but not soulless—no over-compression, just a full, natural sound where every instrument gets room to breathe. From what I’ve heard, the guitars were recorded first, with everything else built around them, which makes total sense—the riffs and melodies command the spotlight here in a way that feels even more prominent than on most albums. But that’s not a bad thing.

What were we talking about again? Oh - right!

TL;DR: The songwriting? Superb. The vocals? Phenomenal. The album flow? Smooth as hell. There’s not a single filler track to be found here. At 50 minutes, it’s definitely on the longer side, but trust me—this is an album that demands your full attention from start to finish. And if you’re lucky enough to grab the limited CD edition, there’s even a hidden track—a Queensrÿche cover, but I won’t spoil which one. You’ll have to find out for yourself. 😉

Normally, I’d wrap this up with my “Interpretation of Lyrics” segment, but, uh… let’s just say Metal Archives only has lyrics for one song, and I’m way too lazy to transcribe the rest right now. Rough week, plus I already missed my usual Friday deadline—it’s Saturday afternoon, and I’m running behind as it is.

Anyway—someone, please, release this on vinyl. Take my money! Or better yet, how about a tour? Because this album has been in constant rotation for me since it dropped. Seriously, buy this thing on CD.

🔥 Grab your copy here:
📀 Europe: Hellion Records
📀 US: Stormspell Records