I knew what to expect before I even turned the speakers on. This is Ross The Boss and if you think it's going to be anything other than a tribute or direct copy of MANOWAR, then you obviously don't know who Ross The Boss is. He is the co-founder of MANOWAR. I absolutely love MANOWAR. They are my second favorite band of all time next to KISS, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to hear what basically amounts to a nugget to tide me over until the next MANOWAR album comes out. This doesn't sound like the MANOWAR of today, this release harkens back to the days before Fighting The World. Before MANOWAR had a major label. The sound is primitive early 1980's true Metal performed by one of the original members of MANOWAR. Ross was the main and only guitarist of the band's first six studio albums. I have to really hand it to Ross, he could have done the easy thing and found a clone of Eric Adams, but to his credit, he didn't do that. Patrick Fuchs does a good job of singing early 80s type Power Metal. He is a step or two down from Eric Adams, but in my opinion, so is almost everyone else. Eric Adams in my opinion is the best Heavy Metal vocalist of all time. He has the longest scream world record. He has sung a song in sixteen different languages and he also sings opera. Knowing this, I knew Ross would have to go down a level or two. It's not his fault, it's just reality.

There is absolutely no way on earth that Ross could ever outdue his work on Kings of Metal, so I didn't expect it to. "Hailstorm" is a solid effort from a true pioneer of Power Metal. MANOWAR is to Power Metal as BLACK SABBATH is to Heavy Metal. They created it. It's very refreshing to see a true pioneer come back to the scene he helped to create. It's just a shame that MANOWAR is so much better. Many bands go down in quality when a founding member leaves. That is not the case with Ross and MANOWAR. Joey Demaio was able to keep them at the top despite Ross' departure. Ross on the other hand,has no been able to replicate the greatness he achieved in MANOWAR. That's OK. This is still a good album. The song "Empires Anthem" sounds like it came from "Battle Hymns". It's eerie how much it sounds like that album. I am glad Ross is back, but I fear he may be regulated to festivals and clubs. I am sure he knew this going in. I also hope he stays out of America. True Metal is dead there. I hope he stays in Europe where the people still love real Heavy Metal and not just the trendy garbage like DISTURBED and GODSMACK. I loathe those bands with a passion. Why listen to utter crap like that when you have a true Metal warrior to listen to?

The songs are fast, they are mid tempo and there's even a slow song. It's like a sample of everything he's ever done before. What else did you expect? If you love true Metal and refuse to compromise, you will love this album. I have always rejected the claims of the posers that MANOWAR is cheesey. That is simply not the case. If you don't get it, that's fine, but don't disrespect an awesome band. The same goes with Ross The Boss. He is back whether you like it or not. If you love true Metal, buy it. This genre has very few bands left in it, and it deserves to survive. It deserves to exist forever. ALL HAIL Ross! Yeah, I said it! All you have to do is read the song titles and you know it's going to be great. Albums like this are what makes me love my job.