REDLINE hail from Birmingham, the ancestral home of Metal. Balls to the walls guitars, a locked and loaded rhythm section and a real powerhouse of a vocalist, REDLINE have forged their own distinctive blend of Classic Hard Rock and British Heavy Metal. With influences drawn from a rich heritage, the band have been compared to JUDAS PRIEST, SAXON, DIO, IRON MAIDEN and a host of others from the founding fathers of metal. "Gods and Monsters" is their latest offering, and contains eleven tracks.

The opening riff of "Gods and Monsters" definitely reminds me of the NWOBHM movement that occurred in the late 70's/early 80's. Vocally, Kez sound like a cross between Rob Halford and Biff Byford. "Empires" is a slightly faster, riff driven song with a bit of pizzazz. This song features a big chorus and a smoking guitar solo. "Prayer for the Dying" is a lumbering song featuring Kez's vocal range. It has a bit of a depressing tone and reminds me of a baby born of LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH. There isn't much meat to the riff but the sound comes across as it should.

"Dark City" grumbles with a fat bass guitar riff, leading to a mid-tempo riff. It has a JUDAS PRIEST feel to it, but again, without much meat in the riffing. In the old school ways, a band could get away with just one main riff, but music has changed today and is much more complicated. "Killer" opens with a Geoff Tate like scream, hitting the ceiling. The chorus is trite however and the song never really gets off the ground. "Fields of Fire" opens with clean guitars and gives us our first real look at something different than the previous five tracks. It has a depressive tone and feels real with emotions. "Take it to the Grave" has a little more pep to it but still...it's unusually boring and repetitive. "Nowhere Man" is another mid-tempo song that fails to get off the ground. Even if this was released during the NWOBHM movement, it would still be boring. I'm sorry but there isn't much here to like.

"Hell Mary" has a little more meat to pick off the bone with a sassy attitude and some great bass guitar work. It might be the best offering on the album. "Stand and Fight" is a faster moving track that again relies mostly on the riff to drive the sound. It has a little more attitude and Kez gives a great vocal performance. "322" closes the album, opening with some great lead guitar parts. I take it back. This song is the best on the album, really embracing melody and a down and dirty sound...and it's an instrumental...and Kez is the best part of the band. This odd juxtaposition about sums up the album for me.

First, they can't be a band from the NWOBHM movement, because that came and went decades ago. Second, while they are not bad musicians, they are doing nothing to forward the Metal scene. Perhaps they are just fine sounding as a tribute band of sorts to the greats from the past? They have a great singer who can serve them in a variety of ways, but as they are now, this is just another boring copy-cat band that you don't need to waste any time on.