Riding the coattails of the military history obsessed SABATON, these Englishmen dressing in vintage (Nazi) attire, something for which they've been criticized, pretending to be vampires. Avowing no supremacy philosophy, the choice of pro-German WWII image (even the album title utilizes some Deutsch) is a lightning rod that's earned some publicity, but at what price? Originally a self-issued effort, Metalbox has picked it up for international release, with a different cover (gone is the cartoon-ish commandant with SS belt buckle: Stuka Squadron).Given the tongue-in-cheek names and comments on their site, definitely like taking the piss, but not without pissing some people off. Time will tell if the gamble was/is worth it.

To the vampire, militaristic angle add some Norse mythology, early, DiAnno era IRON MAIDEN sound plus the twinkle in the eye, wink-wink of LORDI and they've got all the bases covered. Damn shame they didn't spend a little more time on the hooks and melodies. While 13 titles are offered, "Into The Breach" is a 2:05 intro, mixing machine gun fire, air raid sirens and the voice of British PM Winston Churchill, "The Last Resort" a (1:15) spoken voiceover, "The Cross Of Iron" (1:02), a sword fighting (?) effect and spoken segue into its Stalingrad based following-up, and acoustic, 74 second "Lord Of Valhalla" soliloquy. When they get it right, as on the title cut, heavily Dickinson era inspired IRON MAIDEN-ish "On The Volga Bridge" and "Zabulon's Inferno", STUKA SQUADRON are an enjoyable entry in the crowded traditional / Power Metal field. Sadly thus far the image is more memorable than the music. Maybe next flight.