GLACIER, were a band "back in the day" in Oregon USA, plying their trad between '79-'90, coming back for a tribute to the original band, singer Michael Podrybau, with the blessing of the remaining original members has picked up the sword and carried on the fight, so between 2018 and now has put the latest version of the band together, written some new songs and recorded this the bands first full length LP, "The Passing Of Time".

The band still has that undeniable Metal sound from their formative years. Bands like JUDAS PRIEST, SAXON, DIO and a pinch of MANOWAR, spring to mind, and thematically they are Metal through and through with titles like "Ride Out", "Valor", "The Temple And The Tomb" for example, coupled with the odd sword and sorcery trope and the call to arms battle cry lyrics, these guys could not be any more Metal if they tried. I mean with a name like GLACIER, you could only go one of two ways.  Sings battle songs fit for the marauding hoards from the north or about saving the Polar Bears, and this is most definitely the former!

From the get go, "Eldest And Truest", we know where we are, playing fast and heavy, nothing very glacial about the way they play. "Live For The Whip" might have me sniggering in a puerile way, thanks to my smutty mind more than anything, but again a song with a chorus of "We live for the whip and die by the sword" could not be anything but a chest thumping, fist pumping metal song. "Ride Out" is SAXON and PRIEST at their Metal best, whilst "Sands Of Time", initially slows the pace down to build up the drama before opening the taps and getting the heads down and rocking out, again bringing to mind many NWOBHM bands.

"Valor" is a contender for best song on the album, slowly building to some excellent twin guitar work.  Lyrically it does exactly what you would expect, battling evil, protecting the kingdom, and "We Fight, Fight!", sung with the horns in the air over a suitably angry riff. I close my eyes and I'm back to the early 80s banging my head until my neck hurts, punching my leather-clad fist into the air, with thousands of other mad Metal muthas.

"Into The Night" is the fast(er) one, the thrashier one, the SAXON meets MORTOHEAD one, a bloody great one!  The solos are off the chart good. "Infidel" gets the tone spot on, the intro sounds like a modern MAIDEN song.  The most modern sound on the album, with the twin fretwork being amazing, and the solos are fresh, Prog Metal at its best. Which leave us with "The Temple And The Tomb".  The song has a bit of an eastern feel to the pacing and some of the refrains.  The vocals are definitely a key element (as they are throughout), as is the time changes and the pounding drums and soaring guitars, heck ALL the elements work together as they should.  Hard, fast, intricate, everything Metal with a Prog tinge should be.

If we take it some of these songs have existed since the first iteration of the band, and some are out of the latest sessions, they all fit together seamlessly and are a sublime example of how Heavy Metal of this ilk should be plaid.