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Air Raid: Across The Line

Heavy/Speed Metal

4.5/5.0

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High Roller Records
Review: Craig Hartranft
Added: 27.09.2017

In terms of a studio album, the last we heard from Sweden's Air Raid was 2014's Point Of Impact, a decent traditional heavy metal album. They followed this with a small ten gig tour and appearances at two festivals, Rock Hard Festival and Ruhrpott Metal Meeting. Now the band returns with their third album, Across The Line, with the addition of new second guitarist Magnus Mild and new vocalist Fredrik Werner.

Air Raid

If you recall Air Raid, they play traditional heavy metal in the vein of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, yet with a prominent injection of classic speed metal. The band sticks with the basic formula: twin guitars for harmonious riffage and thrilling lead solos; a rhythm section that offers pacing from steady to speed metal gallop, while all the time offering rock groove; and Werner supplies traditional heavy metal vocals, singing clean, maybe a bit gruff, but always following the melody and harmony of the song. Werner is Air Raid's third vocalist in eight years, and probably their best singer to date. His gruffness can be assertive, but you settle into his vocal timbre.

As for the songs, they are as expected from Air Raid, mostly galloping speed metal tunes which race along and then deliver an abundance of blistering solos. While I found no song a disappointment, songs such as Aiming For The Sky, Raid Or Die, Cold As Ice, Hell And Back, And Hold Line were the best examples. This was simply because the twin guitar harmony was vibrant and the rock groove rose from the galloping pace. Overall, Air Raid's Across The Line may be their best, most musically consistent, album to date. For classic melodic heavy speed metal in the best tradition of the genre, Air Raid's Across The Line delivers the goods. Buy it, easily recommended.

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Air Raid's Across The Line may be their best, most musically consistent, album to date. For classic melodic heavy speed metal in the best tradition of the genre, Air Raid's Across The Line delivers the goods. Buy it, easily recommended.

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