Attention fans of Traditional Heavy Metal: Devil's Gun are here from Sweden to get the blood pumping again through your Metal Hearts. It's interesting that their press materials describe the vocals as unique, because the moment Joakim Hermansson opens his mouth, everyone within earshot will be reminded of Metal legend, Udo Dirkschneider - - for both the screamy and the rare lower parts. Between him, the riffage, and a few male "ahhh ahhh" backing vocal sections (think "Balls to the Wall" and “Metal Heart”), there are a number of Accept parallels in their sound. Some other callouts: post-Rhoads Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, Cinderella, AC/DC.

Their first single is "Lights Out," which is unfortunate, because it's probably the worst song on the album. Doing pros and cons for on "Sing for the Chaos," starting with the cons: that song is not the only dud. The lyrics sometimes stumble into stupid ("You gotta go / To Alligator Fuck House!"), and while Hermansson's voice is powerful - - it's a bit too close to Udo's, and his shrill squawk gets a bit grating, after awhile.
On the positive side, however, the first three songs , "Killer Machine," "Tear Down the Wall," and "To the Devil" all peel out with high octane energy. And these aren't the only highlights; the title cut is also a strong Metal anthem. The songs are written from a fairly simple, straightforward template, but they march at you with Rock n' Roll confidence, and a natural knack for energetic riffs. And while I singled out the lunkheadedness of "Alligator Fuck House" in the previous paragraph, it's actually a fun, dumb song. Fun and dumb is OK sometimes.