The seeds of Washington State metal band, Hangfire, were sown when guitarist Sean ‘Shredder’ Searls,noted for his work with Tyraels Ascension and hugely experienced bassist Steven Tolbeck crossed paths on their local music scene. They started working together, the dream being to create a new band with a classic sound – powerful, melodic heavy metal with a thunderous rhythm section and soaring vocals, riffs that instantly connected with the metal heart and solos that gleamed with the irresistible fire of the greats. After two years they found powerhouse drummer Shannon ‘The Cannon’ Laird (The Braindead, For The Love Of Suffering Etc.) and a year later, the final magical piece of the puzzle vocalist Jenea Fiore.

The intro to “Hunger” is the calm before the storm,which then launches into a heavy modern metal style track edgy guitar riffs,with a powerful vocal. On this album you get that classic metal sound blended with some modern metal melody.”Thunder” has fast tempo,double bass drum beats,with a crunchy melody,vocally Jenea Fiore delivers some powerful vocals which do the track justice”Warhawk” is another solid classic metal track which reminds me of classic early 80's Saxon.”White Lie” & “Headspin” have more intensity and a more modern energy & vibe almost bordering on speed metal territory .”Falling Awake” is a sultry,dark slower track,slick acoustic guitar touches set the mood,as the track progresses so does the momentum,a lush electric guitar solo set the track off for a powerful ending both musically & vocally.”S.O.S” is a weak link on the album lacking the energy and momentum,great vocal but basic melody.

”The Hunter” with another acoustic intro which is how half the tracks lead in comes a bit monotonous,on a couple of tracks would suffice,would prefer it if they went straight into the heavy melody personally. “Outlaw” sees Hangfire deliver a solid heavy number with that western feel with the catchy acoustic guitar touches.”Burn” really has that Evanescence and similar bands from the early 2000's,one of the best tracks on the album with a powerful vocal. The album comes to a conclusion with “Fire In The Night” which has a dramatic and epic feel,a good strong track and strong vocal.

Hangfire's debut album is a very strong debut effort. The songs are on the whole very strong offerings,as I said earlier in the review there is too many acoustic style intros for my liking with “S.O.S.” which is a not very strong track compared to the rest,they are my only criticisms The vocals from Jenea Fiore are superb,good strong rhythm & guitar from the rest of the band. A welcome addition to the Heavy Metal universe