Aussie heavy metal quartet SHATTERED HOURGLASS presents a surprise for some, much of the riffs and licks were created and made by 12-year old wunderkind guitarist, Raiden Macintyre. The group from southern Australia is led by the young composer alongside his father on the drums, Craig Macintyre. The younger Macintyre got started on guitar at the early age of seven and wanted to create a band so that father and son could play music together. They soon sought out a bass player and a vocalist and found the former in Michael Wilson fairly quickly. Unfortunately, the band had a bit of a falling out with a former vocalist just before playing in the Wacken Metal Battle, a competition held in early 2020 for unsigned metal bands to win a chance to play at the prestigious Wacken Open Air 2020. Of course, Wacken was canceled due to the pandemic so they wouldn't have gotten a chance to play it even if they won therir spot in the Adelaide event. Fortunately, they were not a 3-piece for long and just before they entered the studio to record their debut, Ryan Discombe stepped in to provide lead vocals and even contribute some in the rhythm guitar department.

The band wanted to get their music out as soon as possible, not letting the COVID-19 pandemic slow them down one bit. Their debut "Timekeeper" was released earlier this December on the 8^th, a date that holds a lot of significance in the heavy metal world as well as the world of popular music in general. Exactly 30 years ago to the day marked the fatal shooting of John Lennon and 16 years ago "Dimebag" Darrel was fatally shot on stage on the same day. On a happy note, it also marks the birthday of Corey Taylor of SLIPKNOT. The young Raiden Macintyre idolized Darrel, citing him as his favorite guitarist and saw it as a fitting date to mark the coming of their debut album. The band released the singles "Vox Populi" and "Timekeeper" to much critical acclaim, adding to their accolades in the Australian heavy music scene. Their final single "Brainwasher" was released only 4 days prior to the album's release and has already gained a lot of attention. The titular "Timekeeper" is pictured front and center on the album cover, meant to be like "Eddie" from IRON MAIDEN as a bit of mascot for the band.

Considering that the majority of the album was written by 12-year old prodigy Raiden Macintyre is pretty impressive alone. After learning this, though, it certainly had an effect on my opinion and I'm not sure if I would have as many problems with the album. The riffs are brutal and heavy but the lead work left me wanting. Right off the bat, we're treated to the guitar effect noodling intro of "The Herd of Sheeple" meant to both emulate the late Darrel as well as a bit Eddie Van Halen ala "Eruption" as well. But it sounded more like a kid playing with the sound effects on a cheap electronic device and I wanted it to end almost as soon as it started. The song itself is brutal and acceptable mix of punkish riffs and metalcore singing. The leads, however, seemed more like sound effects and didn't seem to go anywhere. Title track "Timekeeper" continues the suitable metalcore vibe and the solos get a little bit more creative but still too much reliance and overabundance of tremolo picking. Final single "Brainwasher" has some of the best riffs and is probably the standout track for me. Overall, it's a pretty solid metalcore/groove metal album, with strong riffs. I just wish that the solos sounded less like exercises and created a bit more melody in the songwriting rather than trailing off and meandering.