Just before 2018 ended, Greek power metal warriors SCORCHER released their third incarnation "Systems of Time". The album was released via Steel Gallery Records which has been their label since their first release in 2012. You might find them a bit weird and it's because even if they hail from the power metal fortress of Europe, SCORCHER utilizes the US power metal style in their core sound. Their sound is majorly JAG PANZER combined with ACCEPT, IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST and MEGADETH. This sound is established right in the very first track, "Nightwatch" with all its Iron Maiden influenced guitar sound, a speedy tempo, catchy tune, anthemic chorus and song format itself. The band played on through these ingredients and applied in the entirety of the 49-minute record.

To elaborate the sound further, well, it leans heavily on the thrashy, old school speed metal sound. NWOBHM is also a part of their mixture which is very observable in "Wired Nature" from its riffs, the solos, and the construction of the song. Like any classic records, this album is also a riff-driven one, it has lots of beefy, clean and precise riffs of unique charisma in every song. The work of guitar in the solos is also fantastic, swinging from technical sweep picks into crazy shreds. The drums also play the biggest part in dictating whether the song is going all-out attack or going to slow down a bit and create tension.

Production wise, the album is made to sound like a classic, literally. It has a very minimal technological alteration hence making the sound more pure. They also produced it in a way that the catchy and anthemic melodies were not so over-the-top. Unlike most power metal acts that utilize keyboards as an additional layer of cheese, they relied more on the guitars for a more solid core sound. And the vocals? Just like the overall production - not so over the top. The vocals are predominantly on a baritone with occasional high notes, but not the kind of high notes that would shatter glass. The only downside I can see here is that it falls too short of energy. I think it is because of the control on the aggression of the songs and the way the vocals layered on the instruments. Sometimes, underproducing to make a more old school sound (especially in power metal) might mean cutting some important aspects, and in this case, it the energy which fell short.