AIR RAID
“Fatal Encounter”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Air Raid are a heavy metal band from Sweden formed in 2009, releasing their debut E.P. ‘Danger Ahead’ in 2011. The band have also released four full length albums – ‘Night Of The Axe’ (2012), ‘Point Of Impact’ (2014), ‘Across The Line’ (2017), and ‘Fatal Encounter’, released in 2023.

Six years on from the furious flurry of ‘Across The Line’, one of Sweden’s new breed of heavy metal bands are back with a new album – ‘Fatal Encounter’. These new breed of bands, including the likes of Ambush and Screamer, are taking the old school traditional metal sound and moving it forward to the present day – injecting fresh energy and sparkle. That said, the sound still remains “foot on the monitor” friendly, with a sky high infectious level and tonnes of head bang ability. ‘Fatal Encounter’ is nine songs and thirty eight intense minutes of ground shuddering heavy metal…

…exploding into life with the thunderous ‘Thunderblood’ – and an energy level hotter than the sun! The old school flavour is sky high, the classic feel of foot on the monitor metal making an immediate, and very loud impact. Air Raid mean business and are fired up with fire and brimstone as the album powers on with the much faster paced ‘Lionheart’ – and a traditional metal gallop that would leave even the legends Iron Maiden trailing in Air Raid’s wake! The opening double salvo has been bloody terrific – the pace, power, and purpose all at extremely high levels. And the intensity too! All of ’em showing no signs of dipping either, as the band enter a more mid tempo but nonetheless heavy hitting manner in the shape of ‘In Solitude’ – rocking the heaviest feel of the album so far. The band running around the heavy metal genre, visiting every corner, nook and cranny to deliver a metal sound that is varied but fucking gorgeous!

Electrifying pace makes an emphatic return to the album with the red hot scorching ‘See The Light’ blazing a fiery trail across the land, leaving only smoke in its wake! The band are on a roll now, the metal flowing like hot lava down a volcano – the one minute instrumental ‘Sinfonia’ a bouncy and buoyant highly infectious jaunt of happy metal guaranteed to plant smiles a mile wide on the faces of every listener, fan and follower in every corner of the world. And the pace is unrelenting, the album motoring on with ‘Edge Of A Dream’ – but only after a cracking tension fuelled intro! Air Raid are pulling no punches with their new album, hitting hard and kicking harder to bring a brand of heavy metal to the masses that is old school flavoured yet modern and fresh. Older and younger fans alike are gonna love it!

The strong smell of heavy hitting anthemic foot stomping metal rises high into the air with ‘Let The Kingdom Burn’ shuddering the ground as it stomps its feet hard – the band effortlessly switching from all out pace to a mid tempo meander. The intensity of the album so far has been outstanding, the infectious level off the scale, and the head bang ability, simply incredible. And with just two songs left to go, Air Raid are still flying high – ‘One By One’ rocketing by at a million miles an hour! The fastest of all the songs on offer, ‘One By One’ is a blistering example of just how fucking great heavy metal music is – the band delivering one helluva head bang-able tune. So, it’s time for the albums finale – the red hot scorching ‘Pegasus Fantasy’. And a last chance to hear Air Raid at full tilt delivering melodic heavy metal at its most infectious. What an end to a bloody great album.

Overall, fast paced and highly infectious, ‘Fatal Encounter’ is a glorious gallop of foot on the monitor heavy metal.

TRACKLIST

Thunderblood
Lionheart
In Solitude
See The Light
Sinfonia
Edge Of A Dream
Let The Kingdom Burn
One By One
Pegasus Fantasy

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