Infernö Records are releasing stuff from bands, that are cherishing old school metal. New Zealand's Razorwyre are one of the latest to get their debut album out, entitled 'Another Dimension'. It's not their actual debut release, as at first they were known as Gaywyre (don't ask...), and released EP 'Coming out' back in 2009.

Razorwyre are melting several influences together here. Heavy metal, NWOBHM, speed/thrash metal and some power metal bits are the band's constituents. Music-wise, they seamlessly blend together. Huge amount of riffs (most of them nicely shredding), anthemic lead guitars, twin guitar hacking and nimble-fingered soloing is what the guitar unit offer. And there are a lot of leads and solos, let me tell you. Powerful drum fire brings in loads of energy. The bass lines are audible, and sometimes follow the guitars, some other times the drums. The vocals range from mid-pitched singing to higher, and banshee wails aren't a rarity here. And by the way: No synthesizers!

The opener 'The Conjuror (Shaman's Wrath)' starts aggressively with ripping riffing, pounding drums and vengeful vocals. A powerful, thrashy start for sure. Then in the song, it's time for some good old heavy metal stuff (something in vein of Mercyful Fate) and more epic renderings, plus horror theme borrowing. It is easily one of the highlights on the album. Sadly, the vocals department shows its vulnerability already: The lead vocalist sounds like he couldn't find the right note, and then he seeks it for some time, with fluttering voice, and when it's time for some vibration, it sounds very forced. There's a lot of variety in how powerful the vocals are, too, as mid-ranged sound rather powerless. Somehow the vocals remind me of Crescent Shield's late Michael Grant, but are less accurate. Backing vocals try to fix something, but sometimes it sounds like no common note could be found. This all make vocals kind of forgettable.

'Knights of Fire' harks back to 1980's with its speedy metal and one of the catchier choruses on the record. I sense some 'Kill 'Em All' (1983) vibe on the song for sure, but also German banging. Screaming guitars on the solo part are magnificent to listen to. It makes me want to grab a torch and wield it like no tomorrow. 'FOBF' is a mid-paced rocker, not far from Accept. It is a lengthy composition with a slower part taking the half of the song's duration. Again, the vocal lines are somewhat unmemorable and loose. Fastish 'Nightblade' shows Razorwyre's power metal side and its twin guitar melodies certainly remind of Iron Maiden. It also borrows a vocal melody bit from 'Out of the Silent Planet', but it's not total Maiden rip-offing, even though influences are more than apparent. Pure fist banging rhythms of 'Another Dimension of Hell' bring images of huge mullets in my mind. Solid heavy metal is what the title track is all about.

It's about the midway now and a short, epic instrumental piece of metal, 'The Infinite', is there to show it. Again, the song smells of Iron Maiden. 'Desert Inferno' returns to more aggressive thrashings with some choppy instrumentation, but of course not forgetting the melodic side. Close to two-minute instrumental part with a lot of soloing and other lead guitar work tastes very good indeed. 'The Fort' starts with quite distinctive riffing, before plunging into those familiar rapids of speed metal, and 'Speed Warrior' follows the trend. Especially the latter suffers from loose vocal lines. 'Wind Caller' is more melodic and clearly benefits from it, being one of those distinctive songs here. 'Hangman's Noose' is also a melodic affair and a memorable closer for this ride.

The Tim Shann (the band's bass player) production is well done. The energy of the band was captured. The instruments and vocals are balanced nicely in the mix, all well audible. It also contains a good amount of lower frequencies to bedevil your neighbors. It certainly does not sound too plastic, but more like some 1980's classic albums done with today's standards. The cover art is fantastic with all its details and two-page artwork. Nice ideas there. Typical lyrical themes include battling at wars, roads and life, magic and mystic figures. Surely, as English is their native language, the lyrics are more than okay. And hell yeah, cheesy too, but that's the way to go.

This is a big dosage of metal. The music is pretty memorable for a big part, but the lacklustre vocals really work against that. There are no bad song on offer, but maybe two songs should have been dropped off to make it all tighter. Razorwyre don't present anything new with their debut album, but their sheer energy still convinces. It's well above average, but still defective. Hey, practically it depends on how you like old school stuff revisited.

Rating: 6+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
11/12/2012 21:22