Way back as a newbie first year reviewer for the world-renowned Angry Metal Guy, no release floored me quite like Stormzone‘s Death Dealer.  Although I’d never heard of these Belfast hooligans, their hardcore NWOBHM worship and excellent song writing really got my blood riled up. Accordingly, Death Dealer got Steel Druhm’s only perfect score for 2010 and ended up my album of the year as well. Fast forward to 2011 and it’s a grizzled, jaded, cynical Steel Druhm that greets their new release, Zero to Rage. So, do things look different now that my doe-eyed youth has been drained away by long hours, crappy releases, zero pay and spiteful hate mail? Not really! They still embody the very essence of the NWOBHM style that I love dearly and still traffic in the ways of Saxon, Grim Reaper, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. When they hit their stride, they’re as metal as metal gets and no school sounds older. They also prove once again they’re capable of writing metal anthems that rock my metalverse. While this is a little less immediate than Death Dealer, it’s yet another mammoth dose of old style metal with enough hooks for a month-long fishing trip and enough muscle for an amateur bodybuilding contest. These guys have an infectious swagger and charm all their own and it’s still coming through loud and proud. So, don your high tops, skin-tight jeans and bullet belts and climb aboard the Way Back Machine™ as I set the dial to 1983!

Things pick up exactly where Death Dealer left off and both “Where We Belong” and the title track are HUGE songs that Saxon would have gleefully killed Def Leppard to possess. This is anthemic, studded-glove-in-the-air music that makes me grin like an idiot (if you aren’t raising a fist during the title track, you’re clinically dead). Both are super catchy and put across with deadly conviction by “Harv” Harbinson’s excellent vocals. These are the kinds of  songs you want playing as you bravely march into an epic battle against orcs, trolls, nazis and hippies (all must die!). This is Stormzone at their best and I love it muchly. The same goes for massively hooky, traditional metal chestnuts like “Jester’s Laughter,” “This Is Our Victory” and “Empire of Fear.” Pretty much every song is loaded with commanding vocals and gritty, rugged riffs. Things are generally kept straight-forward and simple with an ear toward melody and accessibility but the musicianship does come through in the solos and some of the more interesting riff patterns. The style never deviates from the tried-and-true 80s and that’s fine with me.

The only song that falls completely flat is “Fear Hotel,” which just doesn’t fit in with the rest of the material and comes across as a bit goofy. Another issue is the run time of several songs. While most are punchy, catchy and fun, several run too long (“Last Man Fighting” being the worst culprit). On last minor point is the repetition of ideas within the songs. A few take a good chorus or segment and hammer at it too long. All in all though, this is a very well-written, highly enjoyable collection of “true metal” songs.

As with Death Dealer, Harv’s vocals are the star of the show and his Blaze Bayley meets Steve Grimmet style is great fun. He’s one of the rare vocalists that can make even the most cliched, Manowar-approved lyrics seem sincere. His tough mid-range grounds things but he can soar as needed. Helping Harv along is the big box of NWOBHM flavored riffs Keith Harris and Steve Moore unpack throughout Zero to Rage. At times you hear Saxon, other times Maiden. Regardless, they have this style down cold and they churn out a lot of fist pumping energy with a heaping side order of testosterone.

Stormzone has excavated a comfortable niche in the metal world and they’re mining it for every ounce of old-timey steel glory. If your interests don’t include revisiting the days of metal lore, this may leave you flat. However, if you cherish the sound of traditional 80s metal like Steel Druhm does, this will work wonders for your spirit. Keep it coming Stormzone, keep it coming.

Related posts:

1. Stormzone – Death Dealer Review
2. Vicious Rumors – Razorback Killers Review
3. Riot – Immortal Soul Review

There is an interesting irony to throwback bands like White Wizzard and a lot of the other thrash throwbacks that are coming out right now, which is that at one point in time what these guys were doing was forward thinking. I know it’s hard to believe, in a world where metal is used to support stupid ideologies, backwards thinking or just generally brutish and retarded behavior, it’s hard to think of metal as progressive, but in 1980—metal was outside of the box. Bands like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard were just cutting their teeth, Lars Ulrich was busy stealing their riffs and ideas and heavy metal was fresh, young, innovative and above all rebellious and really, really interesting.

These days are long gone. Metal has genrified so much to the point where one can’t hold a conversation with another metal dude who likes exactly the same bands as you, and you’ll probably argue about everything: but you’ll both agree that Iron Maiden slayed back in the day. The only other time in metal history that was as exciting as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, in my opinion any way, was probably the Bay Area Thrash scene (though I’m not the biggest fan) and the Swedish Death scene in the early 90s. But those days are gone… They remain, largely, not forgotten however as is proved by LA native metallers White Wizzard who return in 2010 with an album that would have put them on top of the world in 1982..

Now I won’t be coy: I’ve already unveiled how it is that I feel about retro heavy metal. Sure, it’s got its moments, but all-in-all I think that these styles are better left in the past. However, Over the Top is definitely a record to give a shot if you’re even a passing fan of the style. White Wizzard does a good job of capturing the things that made the scene great: the dueling guitars, the epic riffs and the song structures on Over the Top sound like they come straight out of Killers-era Steve Harris’ playbook. Tracks like “High Roller” and “Iron Goddess of Vengeance” replicate that sound with ease and to pretty good effect. The band is tight and solid and the production is good, showing that real bands playing real heavy metal don’t have 13 guitar tracks so that you can actually hear the bass sometimes. The title track, as well, is old school, rocking and fun to listen to.

On the other hand, just like those old metal records, Over the Top has its share of filler. “40 Deuces”, “Strike of the Viper”, “Death Race” and “White Wizzard” all left me wanting more and feeling underwhelmed. These tracks don’t have the same kind of pop that one would hope to get out of an old school metal band. They lack the kind of fire that I look for when I go back and listen to classic metal. I also thought that the song “Out of Control”, while a pretty good track, had some pretty lame lyrics that sort of point out what’s going on here: a group of dudes who are longing for something that ain’t coming back. And in a way that’s sad.

The high point of the album for me personally is the track “Live Free or Die” which not only embodies the Heavy Metal spirit, but also has the vocalist (I think, or it’s another member of the band doing it) backing away from his metal voice and showing that he’s got some good melodic sense and some good pipes behind his metal shriek. This song and “Iron Goddess of Vengeance” (another just kick ass track) show off the talent that is definitely contained within this band. I just wish that they could do something musically that wasn’t so campy and throwback. But that’s me: I’ll probably be a bitter old guy living in the past some day and I’ll love the Gothenburg throwback bands because they take me back to a time when I was cool and on top of things.

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3. Angelus Apatrida – Clockwork Review