Band:	Pounder
Album:	Breaking The World
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	January 2021

01. Spoils Of War
02. Breaking The World
03. Hard Road To Home
04. Never Forever
05. Hard City
06. Give Me Rock
07. Deadly Eyes

Predictable and perfectly enjoyable.

Breaking The World just oozes traditional heavy metal. From the production to the guitar riffs and everything in between.

So what does this new album offer (apart from a title that describes the thing we humans are really good at)? After all, there's no shortage of (traditional) heavy metal-influenced records.

Well, like I mentioned in the intro, Breaking The World isn't necessarily going to surprise you. However, that doesn't mean that it is without its merits. The production, for example, is top-notch for a record that tries to replicate that old-school feel. Guitars are raw enough to make the riffs come to life. The drums and bass are integrated really well, and the vocals are crystal clear in the mix.

Speaking of which, the vocals are very good and fit perfectly with the style of music, and the music itself is strong as well. Some hard-hitting riffs and tasteful bass can be found throughout the whole album. Overall, this is music done well, by a band that is good at their craft. There's an energy running throughout Breaking The World that adds to the overall experience. Not only that, but it helps with the pacing as well. All songs follow a relatively predictable and repeating pattern in style, but it never runs out of steam when it comes down to pacing. It all flows very naturally without ever feeling like you are slogging through a swamp.

The lyrics are not that noteworthy. They mostly lean towards the cheesy side. Well, except for "Give Me Rock": that one is an extremist among the cheesier lyrics. It's that typical "We love/like -insert genre here- so let's have a group hug" style of song. Incidentally, these are usually the type of songs that I don't like. The lyrics are not absurd enough to be really enjoyable (like for example the lyrics on Viribus Unitis, which I recently reviewed), but neither are they all that meaningful. So, it actually speaks volumes that I didn't dislike this one as much, and that I didn't even skip the song when I gave this album its 3rd spin. Although I will say, that this is mostly thanks to the underlying music being fun enough to carry the song for me.

All in all, I can safely say that I enjoyed this record. Pounder has made something that is well put together. It does everything (apart from lyrics) a little bit better than most albums by other bands in this traditional style, and those little things add up in the end. Breaking The World is a safe record to recommend for fans of this style; I don't think you will be blown away by it, not at all in fact, but I'm fairly sure you will find something to your liking. For the people who are not as attached to this particular style of heavy metal, I don't think this will change your opinion.