Rexoria â Fallen Dimension Review
By ClarkKent
Typically, you can judge a cheesy power metal album just from its cover art. Look at the laser-powered sharks/dinos from Victorius, the D&D fantasy elements of Power Paladin, or the stuffed assembly of characters on Angus McSix, and you know youâre getting yourself a heap of cheddar. The covers are busy, bombastic, and as brightly-colored as Frida Ohlinâs hair (see band photo below). Swedenâs Rexoria bucks that trend. The cover art for Fallen Dimension looks like it belongs on a work of dystopian prog like Vanderlust. They deliver something far more light-hearted, thoughâsymphonic power metal. Rexoria deem themselves the birth of a genre called âRoyal Metalââitâs in their name. Rex means king, and Oria means gold. Royal metal. Get it? So just what is this new tag? More importantly, would you like your royale with cheese?
Fallen Dimension blends old school heavy metal with modern power metal and a dash of keyboard synths. While they boast of symphonics in their promo sheet, Rexoria have more in common with Unleash the Archers than Mystfall. They combine the joyful energy of Frozen Crown with the straightforward approach of Sabaton. With honed pop structures, Rexoria set aside the wankery of many power metal bands and dive quickly into their anthemic choruses. Blink, and you might miss the music that happens between the opening spoken word segment and hooky chorus on opener âMetallic Rain.â If you like the bop and energy of power metal without its often masturbatory shredding, then this is for you. Rexoria has solos, but theyâre in and out in a flash, all to ensure songs end in a (mostly) tidy 3-4 minutes. The downside is that where bands like Frozen Crown and Unleash the Archers do some really cool stuff with their guitars, the guitars on Fallen Dimension sound generic and bland.
Frontwoman Frida Ohlin gives Rexoria a more distinctive sound relative to more recent power metal bands. She has a gritty voice akin to Joan Jett rather than the smooth and joyful tone of Frozen Crownâs Giada Etro. She delivers some really good choruses, bringing to life the likes of âBreak the Waveâ and âRunning with the Starsâ with her energetic delivery. She even shows a more tender side on the rock ballad, âHeart of Sorrow,â a duet with Johnny Gioeli (Axel Rudi Pell). Her grit keeps the bouncy, formulaic songs from going too far down the road of pop music. Itâs not that the other players are incompetentâthey just donât have much to work with. The drums are standard, galloping blast beats, and the guitar riffs are competent if uninspired. Rexoria brought in a new bassist (Adam Nordquist) for Fallen Dimension, but I rarely heard him. Usually a record like this benefits from outside hooks, and the synths tend to be hit or miss. There are some good ones, such as those on âMetallic Rain,â but on follow-up âAwakening,â I couldnât help but wonder if they started recycling synth lines.
In general, Fallen Dimension is a pleasant listen thatâs also forgettable due to its jack-of-all-trades nature. Rexoriaâs plug-and-chug approach allows for an enjoyable energy and choruses that hit the right notes. Yet thereâs very little to distinguish them from the power metal pack. The opening riff on âWasted Landâ sounds a lot like something from a Fellowship record, while a majority of their other riffs are hardly more creative than your run-of-the-mill radio rock music. I didnât dislike any of the songs, yet nothing really grabbed me either. Some of the choruses stuck in my head for a little while, but without any real emotional impact. Rexoria has all the pieces in placeâtheyâre just missing that extra something to make them shine.
Power metal serves as a bridge between extreme and popular music. It often contains pop structures that appeal to a wider audience, yet can still stretch the limits with exciting musical prose that can appeal to thrill-seeking extremists. The pitfall of flirting with more commercial styles is that it often leads to formulaic and watered-down music. Rexoria boasts in their promo sheet of millions of Spotify streams and half a million YouTube views, so clearly they are finding success. It would just be nice to see them take some risks. Too often, success gets in the way of art. I hope Rexoria can continue to find success while also developing the art of their music.
Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Black Lodge Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Site
Releases Worldwide: May 8th, 2026
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