Okay, first things first, I'm not the biggest fan of the band's name, POUNDER. For some reason, it just didn't resonate with me, and I kept pushing this review copy deeper into the pile of files to listen too. This was a mistake.  A serious, unforgivable mistake. I love the music from this 7". In fact, it's one of my favorite new discoveries. Released on Shadow Kingdom Records, "Faster Than Fire" is a pre-release vinyl EP preceding their debut album "Uncivilized" to be released on Hell's Headbangers label.

POUNDER encompasses quite a bit genre wise. NWOBHM, Speed Metal, and Traditional Metal. Or, as the band explains, Heavy Fucking Metal. Period. "Faster Than Fire" immediately snares you in. It's catchy, fast, fun and mandatory to head bang to. Almost instantly, the moment Matt Harvey begins the vocals I was reminded of Paul Stanley of KISS. It's kind of uncanny, and somewhat catches you off guard, as you just don't imagine a world in which Paul Stanley fronts a Speed Metal type band. But it completely works, and though you begin to lose that recognition for the most part as you listen, it does come to mind occasionally. Next up is "Last Stand" and like its predecessor, it's simply a masterfully crafted metal song. Great foundation from Corredor and session drummer Donegan, good vocals & heavy riffs from Harvey, a blistering solo from Draper, all accentuating classic metal lyrical themes of warfare and battle.

Closing out the EP is "Come Alive", and maybe it's the word 'alive' in the title, but again, KISS come to mind. Though this time, I could see this being a song the masked legends could have actually pulled off. "Come Alive" could easily be played on and hard rock radio station and illicit immediate interest. The song fades out to a smoking guitar solo that just leaves me wanting to hear more. So, though I'm still not a fan of the name, "POUNDER", I'm definitely a new fan of the band. I have no doubt the name will grow on me, especially if their full length album capitalizes on the promise this EP captures.