Whether or not you are a fan of the whole eighties glam scene, with all its big hair excess, its hard to deny that it produced some classic, influential music. Sure, a lot of it was sappy ballads, but bands all over the Metal spectrum were playing them in some way, shape or form, too (and still do). France's ENGRAVED happily wear their influences on their sleeves, playing a combo of hard-edged Metal with Glam Metal swagger on their second album, "Ungod Bastards". The band have been together since 2004, playing in locations across Europe while releasing a couple of recordings along the way.

I'm going to be honest, it takes some balls to record a track like "Welcome The Power (Entrance)," which basically serves as the band's walk-up music with its slow, pounding drums and gritty main riff. "I Want You" is a high-energy rager with some shredding soloing; pretty simple but nonetheless effective. "The Machine" is, to me, where the band starts walking the walk; it's a fast, catchy follow-up tune with some great melodies, while "Keep Me Alive," with its shouts of 'Long Live Heavy Metal,' works as a great sort-of battle cry for the band. Lou's vocals are full of confidence, as is the band as a whole, and his incendiary leads do the screaming when he isn't. He and guitarist Hell never seem to run out of good riffs, and A.D.'s spirited, occasionally thrashy drumming gives the album a distinctly heavy feel to it. The defiant-sounding "I'm God" cranks things up a notch in with its Speed Metal assault, but the band tones things down in a big way on "Without This Angel." It has a bit of a "Home Sweet Home" vibe to it, but it's still a good song and a nice change of pace before the band jumps into the hard-hitting "Naked Baby." "Rock N' Roll Tonight" is a great closing tune. It has the feel of the last song playing at the end of a party, if you will, where everybody is having their last [beverage of choice], just hanging around and enjoying themselves.

The thing I liked most about "Ungod Bastards" is that, while the music clearly harkens back to an era when Metal was king and MTV still played actual music, ENGRAVED don't come off as overly typical of the style they play. Their songwriting is solid, and the music itself mixes elements of Glam, Arena Rock, Thrash, and traditional Metal flawlessly. I'd recommend this to anyone who like loud, heavy, high-energy Metal.