"Shout it out and play it loud, coz this is what it's all about - Heavy Metal!! Heavy Metal never dies!" So sing Germany's Iron Savior on the track strangely titled 'Heavy Metal Never Dies'. And who's going to argue with that? Not me for starters, I love the stuff! These days it's hard to keep up with all the sub-genres of metal, so it's refreshing to get an album that's unequivocally no holds barred pure good old heavy fucking metal, and that's what Iron Savior are all about.

'The Landing' is Iron Savior's seventh album and their first in four years, and contains eleven chest-beating, fist-clenching, metal-worshiping tracks. 'R.U. Ready' is a delicious cross between Halford's 'Made In Hell' and Dio's 'Stand Up And Shout' and celebrates the history of all things metal -"Breaking the law on the highway to hell, heavy metal thunder putting the world under a spell". I think you'll get the picture by now - these guys like metal. It's not all metal worship though. The charging power metal of 'March Of Doom' tackles the mess mankind has made of the world (careful guys, don't get too serious), and 'Before The Pain' enters the world of the metal ballad (with a very tasty guitar solo in this one too).

Elsewhere, the melodic speed of 'Starlight' and 'Faster than All', the anthemic 'Hall Of The Heroes' and the pure metal onslaught of 'The Savior' and 'No Guts, No Glory' are all enough to satisfy your metal cravings. The riffs are good, and the guitar sound is reassuringly early 80's. This isn't groundbreaking or original, nor is it the best metal album you'll ever hear, but it's a fun, honest and passionate slice of pure HM. Whilst bands like Iron Savior are around, we can rest assured that heavy metal will indeed never die.

http://www.iron-savior.com/