RF FORCE are a brand-new Sao Paolo based Brazilian Traditional Metal act, they have so far released just a handful of singles and all in this, the year of our overlord, 2022. This is their debut album release and boasts ten tracks of throbbing Old School Metal, and just to drive this point home they have even included a song called "Old School Metal" so there can be no confusion about where they stand. The music is heavily influenced throughout by the British arm of the 80s Metal explosion, bands such as SAXON, MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, and our favourite adopted son DIO.

Getting into the first track "Fallen Angel," everything just screams Traditional Metal, from the NWOBHM bass gallop that Steve Harris made his trademark to the RJD style vocals, slightly tubby sounding drums and highly melodic but technically impressive guitar solo. The only thing that I would say departed from the formula is the main riff itself, which is a sight nimbler and tauter than you might be expecting. "Old School Metal" really doesn't need any explanation, they are proud to be Old School Metal and they want you to know!

"Flying Dogs" is where the album launches into the stratosphere, it's fast and it's furious, the music is more intense than previous tracks, Marcelo Saracino seems to be channelling a bit more of Bruce Dickinson with the vocal harmonies in this one and this will surely get the heads banging in the pit. "The Beast and The Hunter" dials back the pace to a mid-tempo, but not the heaviness as the Hard Rock flavoured riff is a crusher and Lucas Emidio pounds the drums with a slow and steady, but thunderously powerful delivery.

Picking the pace back up, to put it mildly is "Creeps of The World" which is driving and intense, bordering on Thrash in places, but still with a melodic vocal delivery. "In The Heart and Mind" keeps the pace up, but delivers it in controlled blasts of energy with thumping double bass pedal work, and a tight riff that gives plenty of space to the vocals. Like many other tracks on this album "Fighter" distils a few different classic sounds into one, the riff has a bit of modern MAIDEN about it, like something you might hear on "A Matter of Life and Death" while the chorus vocals are classic Ronnie James Dio.

The requirement for balladry is fulfilled with "Will You Remember?" which misses the mark slightly for me, it seems to drag a bit as it trudges along, the chorus lifts it a little, as does a decent guitar solo which takes place over a fade out, which is not a method of ending a song I have ever favoured. Fortunately, "Beyond Life and Death" is here to save the day, with an atypical serving of heavy, detuned sludgy riffing that suddenly takes to the skies with a short but soaring guitar solo, before changing pace somewhat and introducing some Groove Metal riffing. It's a track that is stylistically an outlier on the album, but not out of the band's comfort zone by any means. Final track "M.O.A.B." returns to a stricter interpretation of the band's influences closing proceedings in a solid but unadventurous style.

While the band is undoubtedly highly proficient at recreating the sounds of yesteryear, the real highlights of the LP occur when they push those boundaries and meld the sound with something more modern such as on "Beyond Life and Death". The production is authentic sounding, and there is little to fault in the band's performances, the album would benefit from a little more off-piste but is a superb debut all told.