REFLECTION – “The battles I have won” (2025)

For reasons unbeknown to me, I find something very captivating in lyrical epic heavy metal! I am talking about bands such as WARLORD and ARRAYAN PATH, where the music makes you want to charge into battle on one hand, but on the other there is a huge plethora of beautiful and emotional melodies that really warm your soul. More or less this description heavily applies to the new album of the Greek band REFLECTION. They have been around since 1992 with a sparse discographic presence, striking from the underground Metal scene, but make no mistake as their music is killer. 2025 finds them releasing their fifth Full Length which a step to a more refined direction, along with the addition of a new vocalist, Kostas Tokas.

The first single of the album called ‘Lord of the wind’ made a great early impression and definitely heralded the coming of something great. The second appetizer titled ‘Siren’s song’ proved that the impressions created at first were no fireworks and further increased the anticipation for the album. Don’t know if it is the lack of any relevant albums around the corner, or just that those songs are good, but “The battles I have won” turned out to be one of my most waited releases. By listening to the entire thing, I can tell you that the wait is more than worth it, as REFLECTION created one of this year’s biggest bangers! Not in terms of popularity, as unfortunately those kind of albums do not reach many ears, but anyone lucky enough to encounter it, will be glad to unravel its music in all its glory!

There are nine songs with a very direct approach, missing any intros, gaps or drawn out parts. Despite belonging in the epic sub-genre, you will not find any long composition, so in the end you are left with mostly hits, in fact you are served one after the other. I found the first eight songs to be equally great without any drop in quality, with only the closing ‘City walls of Malta’ sounding less impressive in my ears. It is very epic and mid tempo, I suspect many will fall in love with it, but for some reason it came out to me as a long outro, which is fine I guess since it indeed closes the record and that is its task.

Then you have the strong sentiment each song reflects. ‘Lady in the water’ gave vibes similar to ‘Lost and lonely days’ from WARLORD, with a mix of CRIMSON GLORY. ‘March of the Argonauts’ peaks at a fantastic chorus that you will definitely want to experience live, a song that was already released by the band in the past with a different vocalist, with the album version ending up as superior. The music has a strong character, it is very obvious that you are listening to something that has a beating heart, a living organism. This is caused by two reasons mainly, with the first being the weeping guitars. Just listen to ‘Lord of the wind’ that is already available, you can hear the guitars cry the main theme at the beginning, before bombarding you with some heavy riffs. And the other one is Kostas, the current voice of the band. He sings in a very theatrical way and I feel he is right at home when singing in higher octaves. He adds a melancholic tone to his words that end up as the perfect spice the songs needed.

Another clear improvement is the production of the album, which is done by the guitarist of the group, Stathis Pavlantis, once again. The result is surely getting better with every release, with the new record ending up as the band’s finest work in terms of sound quality. Despite that, I still find that there is room for improvement in that department. An external producer would surely help on one hand, yet on the other side of the coin if future releases stay at least on that level, I am very fine with it, it is not a mood breaker in the slightest.

Overall, REFLECTION crafted a work that stands out from the flock. In fact it represents a Metal sub-genre that doesn’t have a strong output in terms of quantity, which is a good thing if you ask me. It isn’t just another album in the veins of SABATON or POWERWOLF that you have already heard of a hundred times already. “The battles I have won” is the album that you will buy and listen to for many months, both because it recreates a non-saturated soundscape, but also because in terms of songwriting there are not many details that could have been done better. I predict spinning this record for a long time.

85/100

Pavlos Pavlakis   

100: Godsent

90s: Excellent

80s: Very good

70s: Good

60s: Enjoyable

50s: Uninspired

40s: Bad

0s -30s: Unlistenable