With their album "The Exorcism", Serbian metal band THUNDERSTEEL bring to the table an energetic mix of hard rock and metal, with a slight sprinkling of power metal. Solid riffs, catchy vocal hooks and big rhythms fill the run time of the bands first full length effort.

Opening track, "Anger on the Road", features a great guitar riff, the like of which you may expect to hear on an out-and-out power metal record, before the song sublimely moves into more of a dirty hard rock groove. A vocal hook that would go down brilliantly live and an unrelenting rhythm section make for a hugely enjoyable opener.

The album continues in a similar fashion, with "Outlaws Lament" providing another fantastic chorus, in addition to the change of pace it gives with a well put together guitar solo and short spoken section. The presence of spoken sections like this, in addition to the use of sound samples that are scattered throughout the album, really help THUNDERSTEEL to flesh out their songs, and involve the listener more with the story of each.

It could be argued that the next few songs suffer from being marginally too long, and some of the energy built up with the strong opening songs is lost. However, "Idols Castle of Light" rebuilds some of the momentum through the excellent chorus and variations in tempo. There's also an absolutely mega bit of vocal work at the end from Miloš Krsmanović.

"Grotesque" acts as a prelude to the album's title track, and again features highly effective use of samples to help build an atmosphere. The title track itself, "The Exorcism", is a highlight of the album, being slightly more restrained, and giving more time for the vocals to shine. At points, the vocal tone and melody are reminiscent of later work from the sadly missed Ronnie James Dio. The song picks up speed during the 2nd half before slowing again, to really make it a stand out on the album and a worthy title track.

The overriding feeling after listening to this debut album from THUNDERSTEEL is that every member spends each song with a huge smile on their face. With this level of enthusiasm, passion and authenticity, it's hard not to be won over. Slightly more variation in song length would make for a record that keeps you hooked more over the course of the full running length, but there is more than enough present in "The Exorcism" to keep you entertained regardless.