As the messenger of hell, the gunslinger, rises from down under, sets his red eyed gaze upon a lonely Western town, and starts pacing towards it, there will be no refuge or retreat. Impending doom will be upon the heads of the inhabitants, survival will be for the fittest, if there are any around to stand against the Hellbound bandit. Divided between heaven and hell, the Heavy / Power Metallers of SPLIT HEAVEN, now a pack of threatening cowboy muchachos, from the barren areas of Mexico, return to portray a twisted version of the old Western civilization in North America through their third release, "The Devil's Bandit's", via Pure Steel Records, while celebrating a decade of old school Metal activity. What's more interesting that SPLIT HEAVEN have been sticking hard for a long period of time to their Metal perspective, largely 80's far beyond driven Metal, assuming indicators of old US Heavy / Power / Speed Metal outputs whereas not forsaking European predicaments such as the classy IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST and slashing Teutonic fever of PRIMAL FEAR.

In general terms, "The Devil's Bandit's" stemmed up to be the rightful creation for the band's decade anniversary. SPLIT HEAVEN seemed to have improved their songwriting, in comparison to the previous "Street Law", achieving a fine status of hook laden tunes consisting of the classic Metal type riffery and lead fretwork, which through their songs never tired or ceased to impress yours truly, and acknowledging my craving for a fistful of power moments with an outstanding performance of sharp edged choruses with several anthem and build up merits. Moreover, I wouldn't be looking for extra imaginative approaches if I were you, SPLIT HEAVEN's legacy has been built upon simple, to the point, straightforward attitude for their Metal. The songs' structures are fairly modest, quite palpable at times but no minus in that, easy to comprehend riff based song list capturing encouraging pointers by issuing melodic licks that could have originated from the Metal's finest era. Production wise, as an 80's Metal fan, I believe that the mixing by the band's drummer, Tomas Roitman, was ascetically good, and there was also the crowning mastering scion of the old PRIMAL FEAR / SINNER's engineering collaborator, Achim Köhler, which added the right amount of venom for the initial band's sound.

"The Devil's Bandit", on my hefty bill, is this album's foremost hit, delivering the unison of vintage European meets American Metal methodologies, letting the bass do the talking with incredible lead swings, obtaining an attention with tasty riffery, impelled drum work and a tremendous rough harmonic hymn like chorus. Giancarlo Farjat as the new voice of SPLIT HEAVEN, proved himself worthy of his new position with a top quality vocal range. "Sinner" is the band's ICED EARTH kind of tune, Power / Speed Metal cruncher circling the wrath and brutish nature of the old American beast, embedding cool MAIDENish melodic spells and a simplified chorale war cry of the song's title, the reverbed soloing is purely breathtaking. "False Martyr" also a few ICED EARTH elements, yet it turned out to be more of the mid tempo puncher, servicing heavy riffing and tuneful power chorus. "Runaway" caught glimpse of old US Metal such as early 80's OBSESSION and JAG PANZER, while also romancing with shreds of NWOBHM. This is a passionate delivery of fine Heavy Metal, in your face and out.

Do go seeking for exceptions because there are none, simply put folks; the strains of traditional Metal run smoothly through the bullets of these cowboys. "The Devil's Bandit's" is SPLIT HEAVEN's cause for celebration and for shoot 'em up, plunging through with scrumptious Heavy Metal that will devour you as well.