Ya know, it really is amazing the depth and breadth of the impact that old school Metal had; and still has to this day. Decades after it made itself known on the world stage, Heavy Metal continues to be a ubiquitous musical language, which manifests from anywhere, a mischievous spirit can plug in their guitar; and speak volumes through sound. LYZZARD are a perfect example, of this longevity in sound and style.

Natives of Portugal, and calling the city of Trofa home; LYZZARD fire confident salvos of high speed old school Metal artillery, that are jacketed with a suave, Hard Rock attitude and style. Try to imagine IRON MAIDEN genetically spliced with GUNS N' ROSES, then stuff them full of whiskey and tell em 'Ok guys go create mayhem!'

This album titled, "Savage", is by all accounts their debut LP; it opens with "Nightwatcher"; the sound of distant thunder and a siren and then a thick guitar strum and snappy drum beat hook you into the heavy. All the instrumental flavours of Rock are here; high speed, driving rhythms forge the listener forward, the vocals are clean and polished  with a hint of street wise attitude, and oh my what a guitar solo!

The next two tracks, "Heavier Than Life", and the title track, "Savage", whip up the same musical fury; when listening to this, I couldn't help a smile creeping across my face, as I could easily imagine the much younger, teenage version of myself, running around my bedroom in a furious display of air guitar skills! This album is also quite well produced, every individual ingredient of this band, for the most part; plays a very clear part in the strength of this recording. But I do have to say that at times, the backing vocals were a bit distant and could have come forward more to give the songs more power. In addition, the consistent high-speed in all of the songs, did make it a little exhausting at times and some tracks sounded fairly similar and it lost a little potency. But as this is their debut album; I am positive that these minor gripes will be ironed out as LYZZARD evolve. Oh, and I should also point out, the last track on the album, "Maniac", is a hard rock cover of the Michael Sembello song from the film "Flash Dance", and it's awesome!! What a massive finish! I now have the line "She's a maniac, maaaaaaniac on the floor" stuck in my head.

Pretty damn good work here, I wouldn't say world class, but impressive, none the less. I'm going to a party this weekend, and I am bringing this album along for sure.<