Time Signature Run for yesterday...

Genre: traditional heavy metal

Released in 1984, this is as authentic 80s metal as it gets. The album sees re-release this year on Pure Steel so younger generations of metal heads can feast their eyes on its charmingly ugly cover art and, more importantly, take in the music on the album.

And this is not just bona fide 80s metal. It is awesome bona fide 80s metal. The compositions on the album contain all that was good about 80s metal before glam metal took over, such as soaring vocals, booming drums, a driving bass, guitar solo trade-offs and strong guitar riffs. Not surprisingly, there is somewhat of an influence from the likes of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden on this album, but Exxplorer can hold their own, and some of the songs are even a bit ahead of their time, featuring a couple of progressive element every now and then.

The album is naturally characterized by the imperfections that you can expect on an obscure 1980s metal album, but, ignoring those (or maybe even embracing those), this is a really brilliant album, and fans of traditional metal should definitely get a hold on it.

Time Signature Glory hunter...

Genre: traditional metal

Although only having released four albums, Exxplorer certainly deserve the title of metal veterans, having been at it since 1982, and this brand new release really takes the listener back to the metal of the 80s.

First off, the style itself is straight up 80s metal with similarities to classic metal acts like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Accept, Running Wild and the like, and the influence of NWoBHM seems especially prevalent on the album. Thus, Exxplorer deliver solid riffage, rocking soloes, harmonic guitars, and lots of rock 'n' roll atmosphere on this release. We are not dealing with groundbreaking music, but, if you like your 80s metal, then "Vengeance Rides an Angry Horse" should be absolute ear candy for you.

The production is a bit raw and fuzzy and the guitars are razor sharp while the drums have a really rattly sound, and, if your ear is tuned in on pristine and polished modern productions, then it might take a couple of listens to get adjusted to the raw and dirty sound on this album, but I do think that the fuzzy guitars and raw production add a certain authenticity to this album, which I appreciate.

Fans of larger-than-life 80s metal should definitely check out this raw rocking heavy metal release.