Thirty years, or twenty seven to be exact, is quite a long time for a band to release its debut album. If you think about it a little more, we are talking here about a bunch of guys, probably not all of them since the crew took a time off for four years between 1985 and 1989 and who knows who came back and when, that their doings with the band were unknown until finally reaching the second decade of 00s and releasing a load filled with new songs. Well it got me interested to see what a band could muster for an official release after such an extensive period of time. Let me just say that I was fortunate and I could even polish my Italian a bit...

T.I.R., at first made me think of the Viking band but then I remembered that they are called T.Y.R., or as it lengthy stated as TOTAL INFERNO ROCK, is a veteran Italian group from the city Roma, Italy's pride. Since they are a band that began its first steps in the newly born world of Metal back in 1980, you don't have to be a wiz to know that traditional Metal is their thing. They seemed to have been following BLACK SABBATH, NWOBHM in the range of early IRON MAIDEN and MOTORHEAD along with hints of melodic Speed Metal al'a early HELLOWEEN. "Heavy Metal", via Jolly Roger Records, is their official debut, and it is in Italian so please prepare your dictionaries or Google Translate.

To tell you the truth, I was puzzled about this whole release right from the very beginning since T.I.R. fundamentally played the same stuff, even with the IRON MAIDEN like productive mind of articulate verses and passages, that nearly every band used to play, and maybe probably still, almost thirty years back. Besides, I couldn't also disregard the bumps they had over in the recording sessions such as a few faults of the vocals and a small portion of rhythm sections that were slightly uneven.

However, I came to discern their strong stance and their eager enthusiasm to play old school stuff that has been also recorded in a vintage like production. Their remarkable efforts brought into being some amazing memorable Heavy Metal hits that reminded me why traditional Metal is such an everlasting gem. The music surrounding "Roma", "Heavy Metal TIR", "Il Bolo Delle Aquile", "Hidra" and "Shout", took me to the very foundations of today's Metal. Whether with high, full-throttle, speed demons, intense melodies or an emotive ballad filled with warmth and a strong vocal line, they have it all right here.

T.I.R. is one of many for sure. Yet, their zealousness for not surrendering to the sign of times, and it shows throughout "Heavy Metal", proved to me once again that it is ok to go against the grain. Nonetheless, this album could have been a little better if the producer would have made a final last check of the recordings before the final mix.