Hello Metal Temple, today I'm bringing to you nostalgia and Metal. In 1977, Mark Ruffneck and friends decided to form the band called OZ. They were mostly active in Sweden, but they had a good run with 5 full-length album until 1991. After a 19 year hiatus, the band reformed in 2010 with almost exclusively new band member except for Mark. "Transition State" is the second full-length album released by the group since their return. They kept their style of 80s Heavy Metal and it is delivering big time.

I'm always amazed when I stumble on a band that were around in the 70s and 80s that are still alive today. Most of the time, they are able to keep their style while seemingly renewing their material. Granted, I've never heard any of their albums before, but I will have some catching up to do.

Although the style of music and vocal in "Bone Crusher" strikes you as old school, the production value of the album is incredible. The sound is crisp, which is perfect even for an 80s style of Heavy Metal. I'm bored of hearing bands us poor recording quality to make you feel like you're back in time. While people want this kind of music and style, we don't necessarily want the bad quality aspect of it.

"Restless" really set a great pace for the album. The song which feels like an old but new song, stands out by its powerful vocal range and multiple old style guitar solo. To go from one side of the 80s spectrum to another, we get "Drag You To Hell" which really reminds me of IRON MAIDEN. The vocal work of Vince is really put forward throughout the album. He does a great job working in all kinds of high and low pitch.

We dip a bit deeper into Power Metal with "In A Shadow Of A Shotgun", the soaring vocals and solid hook will definitely make you feel like you're back in your parents basement listening to this on vinyl.

"The Mountain" and "Midnight Screams" are probably what sound the most like ballads on this album. With a slow start going into a faster pace at the half way mark, and descending into a an emotional guitar solo in the third act.

Over the 13 songs of this album, never at any point in this album does it feel over done or forced. They play their style with heart and they have fun doing it. It shows in the quality of the product. With a great production quality on top of a nostalgic style, OZ will dig their way up into many of our hearts with this top notch release.