Wildestarr - A Tale Tell Heart

Man, these people kick ass. Old school metal in the vein of classic Savatage or Queensrÿche.It seems like everywhere you turn, a new band crops up sporting "the retro sound" that's so popular in rock music these days - particularly in the rich, hard rock and heavy metal genres. And, yes, I'm telling you about one of them called Wildestarr. What do they bring to the table? For one, a female singer in London Wilde, who will often remind you of Ann Wilson on this amazing old school album inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe - how's that for O.G. metal source material?

Original bassist for Vicious Rumors, Dave Starr, lends some considerable talent to the guitar side of things, giving the music an authentic 80s era metal punch on their second album, A Tell Tale Heart. And I mean it, the guitar work sounds fantastic on this album, replete with harmonized runs, chugging power chords, and all the sonic trimmings.

Now where a lot of these efforts run afoul is in middling production that just doesn't do the material (or talent) justice, but that's not an issue here. Everything sounds great, with all of the atmosphere of classic 80s metal acts like Savatage or Queensrÿche. Bravo, guys.

The Bottom Line: This is old school metal done right. If you've got a jones for the classic sounds of your teenage years, listening to vinyl records in your friend's bedroom after school, grab this album and crank it the fuck up. Ahh, the good old days.

Tracks to Make You Air Guitar Your Ass Off In Front of Your Bedroom Mirror: In Stacatta, Transformis Ligea, Last Holy King, A Perfect Storm, Usher In The Twilight

- Genghis wishes he had this on vinyl - and a record player...