A promising American traditional metal band, Pharaoh formed in 1997 in Philadelphia and spent their formative years working on material, but by the time they had written enough for a full album, they had still not secured a vocalist. They attracted the interest of Tim Aymar, well known for his work in Control Denied, and he agreed to take part, at first only on a session basis (he later became a permanent member). Due to various record label difficulties, the recording of After The Fire took some time, but was finally completed and released by the new Italian label Cruz Del Sur. Musically, the band has drawn frequent (and justified) comparisons to Iron Maiden, with some nods to 80's American power metal as well. Aymar puts in a fine performance, as does the rest of the band. After The Fire lacks that one something that puts it in the absolutely-must-have category, but it's a fine debut effort, and there's plenty of potential here to be tapped in the future.