I have a thing for current bands that have the ability to transport me back to earlier Metal times and put a smile in my face with their music. Just think of MIDNIGHT RIDER from the German Ruhrgebiet. They have produced two outstanding records with just their Old School Heavy Metal music, which is deeply embedded in the seventies. Now I am confronted with these two guys from Snohomish, Olympia, in the fine state of Washington, USA. VISION MASTER have all the ingredients to make me love my job as a reviewer. They take me back to the eighties with their version of Old School Heavy Metal music, but as they have many more influences of a decade later than MIDNIGHT RIDER, there are a lot of differences as well as similarities.

The first thing that strikes me is that the voice of Dan Munro is rather reminiscent of that of Wayne, the German singer. The second is that both bands are very capable of writing songs that have a tendency to get into your brain and permanently lodge themselves there, whether you like it or not. That makes VISION MASTER into a force to be reckoned with. What the latter band has is a lot more speed in their musical endeavours, as they are not afraid to mix Heavy Metal with some Speed Metal and sometimes even Thrash Metal. You can even add a dash of Black Metal to that mix. The funny thing is, it works, and It makes the experience of listening to "Sceptre" a very pleasant one.

"Sceptre" is the culmination of four years of working together to get it all right, and I for one am very glad they waited this long. It prevents VISION MASTER from releasing a half-hearted attempt as their debut album. Now they have the ability to tell people they have started life as a recording artist with an absolute banger of a record. As that is the only way I know how to describe "Sceptre". Like I said at the beginning, I might be biased, but nevertheless, that is the only conclusion I can type into my computer whilst listening to this bloody good VISION MASTER album. They are using their "Sceptre" and thus reigning with their time-travelling music. The only things that can make it better is produce an even better follow up, and do a tour with MIDNIGHT RIDER. That would really make me feel like a young man again.