"Foundations" is the June 2017 debut album of Italian hard rock/metal artists from the town of Monza, OUTRIDER. The band certainly sound Italian. The vocals here made me chuckle. They're the garden-variety Mediterranean Rocker vocals where the singer's imitation of a hard rock style similar to Dio is tempered by an unmistakable nasal drawl. Listen to an Italian metal band with clean vocals (RHAPSODY, THY MAJESTIE, LABYRINTH, DGM to name a few), you'll find them. Occasionally Zampolli manages to channel Diego Vasquez (and for that matter, Tobuscus) - as is the case in "Down" - but otherwise remains very much within this archetype.

The effort reminds me a lot of one of the better entry-level "prog" bands that'd show up on the European Metal Channel on YouTube, one that's prog in a mild way. The second track, "Sideways", might be the best example of this style on this release, but there are a handful of other interesting tunes here. "Empty Shell of Me" is one of the more promising tracks, with a decent textural variety and more interesting drumming, accompanied with a solid chorus using some shades of melodeath riffing. "Brutal Game" is odd, retaining both flat Southern rock kind of melodies and some semi-djent stuff that reminds me of VOLA to some degree. "Kimberly" is a more atmospheric track vaguely evocative of a number of different prog groups, including Polish fixtures like RIVERSIDE, INDUKTI and VOTUM and even Swedish legends KATATONIA; "Raindrops" is similar in this regard.

The bands that comes to mind for me is RED CIRCUIT, a German semi-prog heavy metal group. - particularly on "Get Out". To be fair, REX BROWN isn't a terrible comparison either, especially with all the indulgent down-pitch bends, but at least OUTRIDER maintain a decent level of energy throughout and don't make a pretense of heaviness: see "Stronger Than Before". It's a solid effort and OUTRIDER sound like they're having fun. More importantly, the last three tracks are all solid, an enjoyably nuanced take on hard rock.