Thunder Lord-Heavy Metal Rage

Iron Shield Records
2014

Chile's Thunder Lord (possessing one truly metallic moniker!) will have this, their (originally self-released back in 2012) sophomore output, re-released by Iron Shield Records at the tail end of this month. For fans of traditional heavy metal  we're talking about nearly 38 minutes of no-frills, straight to the heart of the matter, true metal with influences such as Running Wild, Grave Digger, Exciter, Iron Angel, Sodom, Living Death and Blind Guardian playing a huge part in this band's development. Since 2002 this Santiago-based outfit has been churning out their own brand of rough & ready heavy/power metal with a pair of demos (released in 2004 and 2005 respectively) having preceded their 2008 full-length debut album, "Hymns of Wraith in This Metal Age" (also self-released). That album was over an hour long(!) so this one could be viewed as a bit of a letdown in that department. But, only in that department friends. For you see, everything else about "Heavy Metal Rage" is golden. Semi-rough vocals of the metallic kind ride atop waves of club-worthy, down and dirty riffs that, with one eye closed in the darkly lite confines of an underground metal venue, could easily pass for music from the "good old days"! Sound's promising right? Well, it is! What works well for this lot (and thus this album) is their ability to transform those previously-mentioned influences into a rather nifty, (charmingly) rough around the edges, sound of their own that recalls many a great old band while effectively carrying itself in a proud manor that says "We are Thunder Lord. This is who we are. This is what we sound like and this is what we stand for. Love us or loath us it makes little difference to us as we will keep on cranking out the riffs OUR WAY!!!!". And personally I find myself loving the likes of Thunder Lord more and more as we find ourselves inundated with more and more generic rock and generic metal on a daily basis. This is true heavy metal/power metal with anything flashy or sparkly. There no keyboards or symphonic moments. There's nothing to suggest that this is anything but no-holds-bared heavy metal  by heavy metal fanatics for heavy metal fanatics. It's just meant to be enjoyed as is so do just that-enjoy it. I know I did and so will you!