Metal Inquisitor can easily be mistaken for a band that got lost with the thousands of others that surfaced during the early waves of traditional 80's heavy metal. This release is going to get your brain into playing a guessing game. By the time you finish listening to this album, you are going to swear that you've already heard many of the riffs and chord progressions somewhere else. I guess in this case the band has picked an appropriate name.

The truth of the matter is, Metal Inquisitor has been around since 1998. They hail from Germany and their music has been available in the form of demos, singles, compilations and one full length album. Their influences are strongly rooted in early 80's traditonal heavy metal, especially NWOBHM bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Saxon. "Doomsday For The Heretic" is their second full length album. Despite the fact that this band does not offer anything you haven't heard before, they do stay true to the 80's power metal style and they do it quite well. This album is a medium that will time warp you back into the 80's heavy metal era.

Metal Inquisitor seems to borrow heavily from their influences but still offer something refreshing to a style that to this day stands the test of time. Check out title track. Around the three minute mark, the break sounds like something from Judas Priest's "Solar Angels". The main chord riffs in "Restricted Agony" seem to pay homage to the ones in "Bonded By Blood" by Exodus. "Star Chaser" sounds like it has the same upbeat rhythm as "Twilight Zone" by Iron Maiden. The power chords in "Midnight Rider" sounds like something from Obsession's "In The End". "Legion of Grey" has the same tempo and riff strumming as Saxon's "20,000 Feet". The lead guitar harmony fills over the chord break in "Infamia" seem to be taken right out of the pages of Mercyful Fate's "Nightmare". And if there was a song that sounds like a twisted version of Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution" meets "Flying High Again", it's "Logan's Run". The lead fill at the beginning is Rhandy Rhodes trademark all the way.

There is a CD only track included here called "Bad Boys Hardrock Police". Musically, this track sounds like it could have come from the AC/DC vaults of unreleased material. It has a more hard rock style and sound than the rest of the album and doesn't really flow well with the rest of the material, which is probably why it is the last track on the CD. Metal Inquisitor also do a great cover of Judas Priest's "Invader".

The production on "Doomsday For The Heretic" is good. The vocals are average but compliment the music. At times they remind me of Steve Grimmet from Grim Reaper mixed with Michael Knoblich from Scanner's "Hypertrace" and Hellfire's Tomasz Twardowski .

Upon the first listen of this album, I was immediately hooked. "Doomsday For The Heretic" is sure to please those fans that can never get enough traditional 80's style heavy metal. This album is a must have for anyone that still lives for traditonal 80's influenced heavy metal.