Razorwyre is one of these bands whose labelling depends largely on the listener. In my opinion the kind of music they play is "Speed Metal with NWOBHM elements". But someone arguing this is in fact an Old-school Heavy Metal band with Thrash elements would just be equally right. In Another Dimension, their debut album, the New-Zealander Razorwyre blends in the bittersweet majesty of melodic traditional Heavy Metal, and the unforgiving, relentless aggression of Thrash. And what do they get as a result? Why, a bombastic piece of awesome of course.

Regarding the NWOBHM elements, Iron Maiden and Angel Witch immediately comes to mind, but also Judas Priest, notably for the devilish and Halfordian acute screams Z-Chylde delivers. I'm not going to lie, Z-Chylde is not the best vocalist out there, but he fits just fine and don't worry: he does his part nicely. I would not mind seeing him add a little depth and power to his vocals in the future, however. The Maiden influences are obvious in tracks such as Nightblade, in which you will find an epic solo almost impossible not to hum to. The humorous and straightforward Fight or be Fucked (okay sir, I'll fight), Another Dimension of Hell, and Hangman's Noose are other tracks heavily influenced by the aforementioned glorious ancestors. And for the better.

As for Thrash material, it is difficult not to think of early Megadeth when listening to the Gatling gun riffs and maddening solos of Desert Inferno. And what to say about the wailing guitar in the middle of Knights of Fire? Or the utterly ground-shattering earthquake of a riff in The Fort, probably my favourite song of this album. You can almost picture the sung events with the guitar work alone... brilliantly done! Besides, let it be said thrash-oriented songs are not at all dry and fast-paced from beginning to the end, here. No, you'll find an unexpected short solo here, a pace change there, a terrific old-school riff more often than not (that punctuating riff in Wind Caller, which reminds of Operation Mindcrime era Queensrÿche!) But they can also be frantic and brutal, fear not.

To sum up, if you like Speed Metal, Thrash and NWOBHM, I cannot see a glimpse of a beginning of a remote, far-fetched, lousy reason for you not to like this. Buy, or die. Period.

The Infinite/Desert Inferno promo video
Nightblade promo video