{"id":71624,"date":"2018-06-08T00:00:56","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T00:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=71624"},"modified":"2018-08-13T02:54:46","modified_gmt":"2018-08-13T02:54:46","slug":"ep-review-pounder-faster-than-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/ep-review-pounder-faster-than-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"POUNDER – Faster Than Fire EP (2018) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

POUNDER
Faster Than Fire EP<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nShadow Kingdom (2018)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Maybe it\u2019s the production \u2013 which I like \u2013 but this sounds as though it was found in the 80s, forgotten all about, and then unleashed several decades later.<\/p>\n

The abruptly named Pounder hail from Los Angeles, and they play straight up heavy metal brimming with beefy riffage, rousing percussion and rough \u2018n\u2019 tumble vocals courtesy of Matt Harvey \u2013 the same man growling his way through Gruesome as well as numerous other acts.<\/p>\n

Pounder is very much a world away from those deathly aesthetics, although this new three-track EP does its best at living up to its title by scorching the ears with a fizzing style of metal that you\u2019d want to play after listening to Exciter and the like. Many a decade ago people were calling this straight-laced style of metal speed metal just because of its velocity and pace that would stretch it out of the norm\u2019 of traditional heavy metal, and so that\u2019s what you get here, all bolstered by the lead work of Tom Draper (Carcass, ex-Primitai, ex-Savage Messiah), who brings the title track to life as a scorching anthem to get the fists pumping and sweat dripping.<\/p>\n

Pounder have mastered the art of sounding fresh but nostalgic, seizing the day with a volatile mix of blazing metal haste and killer trad\u2019 metal values whereby New Wave Of British Heavy Metal-styled streaks creep in as the drums… er… pound on. No surprise then that \u2018The Last Stand\u2019 and \u2018Come Alive\u2019 are rollicking numbers too, Pounder seemingly enthused and aggravated at the same time by their local scene being full of too many watery wannabes and so they strike hard and strike deadly to the thunderous whips of Alejandro Corredor\u2019s bass. While emphasis is on the pace, there\u2019s just so much jam-packed into this EP to the point that it couldn\u2019t be more metal.<\/p>\n

If you were lucky enough to hear the band\u2019s 2017 Heavy Metal Disaster<\/em> demo then Faster Than Fire<\/em> will only disappoint in that there\u2019s not enough tracks to chew on, but the gloriously wild \u2018Come Alive\u2019 should enable you to release enough tension before a full-length riot ensues.<\/p>\n

As someone sceptical of bands employing those 80s details, it\u2019s safe to say that Pounder have grabbed the revival scene by the scruff of its neck and thrown it over the top rope in order to conquer the battle royal. The chemistry here between the players is astonishing as those leads merge with smouldering riffs, and the drums and bass combine to build a huge steel wall of flames by which Matt Harvey wails from.<\/p>\n

Naturally the strong leathery odours of NWOBHM smother this release, the band happy to nod at all that has gone before as they drive into a power metal pattern, but it\u2019s the quality by which it is all executed which makes it such a mesmerising feast for the eyes and ears.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

POUNDERFaster Than Fire EP Shadow Kingdom (2018)Rating: 8\/10 Maybe it\u2019s the production \u2013 which I like \u2013 but this sounds as though it was found in the 80s, forgotten all about, and then unleashed several decades later. The abruptly named Pounder hail from Los Angeles, and they play straight up heavy metal brimming with beefy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-pounder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71625,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71624\/revisions\/71625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}