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POUNDER “Thunderforged”
POUNDER “Thunderforged”
By Theron Moore
Let me walk you through this. I get contacted by the legendary Dr. Mality that the latest record from POUNDER is available for review. I jump at the chance to review it. I’m familiar with past releases ”Uncivilized”, “Breaking The World” and the great “Heavy Metal Disaster” Naturally I’m excited for their forthcoming release, “Thunderforged”. If it’s anything like they’ve done previously, I’m onboard. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that.
“Sound &Fury” started the record off great, no issues there; what came after it is questionable if I’m being forthright. To begin with, there’s quite a few songs on this record about the majesty of rock and the glory of heavy metal. A song or two? That works for me. However, after the third or fourth song it becomes redundant, even to the point of parodying itself.
“Thunderforge,” “Deeper Than Blood,” and “Metal Eternal” are good examples of this. “Comin’ Loose” and the badly titled “Wet & Wreckless” felt like halfhearted attempts to rock a style like early ACCEPT (think “Fast As A Shark” era). For a lot of reasons ,these songs didn’t work. For example, the vocal style and delivery on “Comin’ Loose” felt forced and not genuine.
“Get Pounded,” plays up the worst kind of 80’s metal stereotypes imaginable. Wanna talk cartoony? This is it. So is the aforementioned “Deeper Than Blood.” Both felt too patronizing and dumbed down for me to take seriously.
I like POUNDER, I’m not here to beat up on them. As a critic my job is to be truthful, and I can’t recommend this record. I want form and substance with every record I listen to. ‘Thunderforged’ felt contrived, two-dimensional, and full of too many bad cliches for my taste.Don’t take my word for it, stream this record when it becomes available, and you be the judge.
2/5 Stars
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