Tantrum – Melt It Down

Scottish Metallers Tantrum, through a support pledge project, have released their debut album ‘Melt It Down’. They asked fans to help fund the release by pre-ordering the album and pledging certain amounts of money in return for exclusive gifts. The more you pledged, the bigger the gifts. For example, pledge £100 or more and you get to sing backing vocals on the album!! I think it’s a great idea and all of those who have pledged will not be disappointed with this end result.

Tantrum are a pure 1980’s metal outfit. So, if you into the likes of Iron Maiden, Helloween, Dio, Wasp, Manowar etc… then this album is for you. We start with ‘Underdogs’ with it’s peaceful acoustic intro. I like the way the church bell in the background isn’t quite in tune with the music. Pearl Jam were pioneers of this and I’m really for it. It makes the music sound more live and real. The guys then thunder into a Maiden style juggernaut riff. The background vocals remind me of Anthrax’s backing vocals and I think it works very well.

‘New World’ starts exactly as ‘Rime Of The Ancient Mariner’ does. Maiden fans will love this.  Although not quite my genre, I can fully understand why Metal fans will enjoy what they hear here. ‘Hammer Into Anvil’ turns more towards Manowar for me. But enough of comparisons, I think you now get the idea of how this album will sound. This track has a nice, slow, heavy groove which leads us nicely into ‘Hero’, with it’s catchy bridge and chorus.

‘NWOBHM’ reminds me of ‘Hit The Lights’ by Metallica. A stomper of a track which doesn’t let up throughout. ‘Last Man Standing’ has to be one of the best tracks on offer here. In fact I don’t think fans of this music will think there is a single bad song on here. ‘Wizards Warning’ completes this great effort from these Lothian chaps, and it’s well worth a listen. Buy it!!!

Track Listing:

1 – Underdogs

2 – New World Order

3 – Hammer Into Anvil

4 – Hero

5 – Melt It Down

6 – NWOBHM

7 – March Of The Damned

8 – Last Man Standing

9 – The Tyrant

10 – Wizards Warning

Line-up:

Steven Swanson – Vocals
Steven Waddell – Guitar
Stoo Condie – Guitar
Ritchie Davison – Bass
Billy Angus – Drums

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