Band:	Tailgunner
Album:	Guns For Hire
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	July 2023

01. Shadows Of War
02. Guns For Hire
03. White Death
04. Revolution Scream
05. Futures Lost
06. New Horizons
07. Warhead
08. Crashdive
09. Blood For Blood
10. Rebirth

How often do you recall being genuinely blown away by a NWOTHM (new wave of traditional heavy metal) album these days? For me, not very often. But, this just so happens to be one of those rare occasions where an album of this category simply does.

The impressive debut album we have before us is Guns For Hire, released by newly formed U.K.-based heavy metallers Tailgunner (appropriately named after a reasonably good Iron Maiden song). The band was founded in 2018 by bassist Thomas Hewson, who was joined alongside by guitarists Patrick van der Völlering and Zach Salvini, as well as drummer Sam Caldwell shortly thereafter. Their latest addition saw vocalist Craig Cairns (perhaps most notably known as lead vocalist for Czech Republican symphonic power metal band Induction) join the ranks. While this may not make it the most well known line-up in the history of heavy metal, it has proven to be a winning formula nonetheless.

Now, what makes Guns For Hire stand out from the rest of what we hear from today's heavy metal acts? Well, consistency, for a start. This is an album featuring ten top quality tracks, which, I can honestly say, are brimming from top-to-bottom with pure energizing, headbangable material that should ultimately leave you feeling fully satisfied and tempted to push that replay button time and time again. Well, this album certainly ticks all the right boxes (in terms of what makes a true heavy metal classic, of course), from its great galloping rhythm section led by some more than competent drumming beats and bass lines, to its soaring lead solos, deliciously melodic riffs, and classic '80s, glamorous, heavy-metal-style vocals.

It still might not sound like anything out of the ordinary to you at this point (you could say fellow NWOTHM acts such as Enforcer, Striker, and Skull Fist have been there, done that, and still do that, to a degree) but there is a key factor here, which I believe does stand out from those bands: the songwriting. Fabulous performances from musicians in these new traditional heavy metal acts is nothing new, exactly, and the modern production can add to a more impressive sound quality. But, to actually write good, memorable tracks with verses and choruses that can be considered great, is something unique.

From those fist-pumping, memorable verses and choruses in "Crashdrive", "Revolution Scream", and "Shadows Of War", to those deliciously catchy Iron Maiden-style riffs and marvellous Judas Priest-like galloping rhythms of "Shadows Of War" and "New Horizons", and that outstanding melodic guitar solo on "White Death" Guns For Hire certainly has its share of crowd-pleasing, arena-performing anthems (very much in the vein of W.A.S.P.) that will simply get the crowd jacked-up and having a whale of a good time.

As I said before, the consistency of this album is terrific, and there aren't any particular tracks I find myself skipping. Each track brings a joyous energy, and that energy flows from one track to the next. However, an obvious stand-out amongst them is the final track "Rebirth" (probably a fitting song title, as you'll likely be wanting a rebirth of this album when it's all over). This track is just shy of nine minutes, making it by far the longest track on the album (as all other tracks are usually around the four-minute mark). There are no slow ballad-like moments here on this track (in fact, there aren't throughout the album, to be fair), just eight-plus minutes of simple, traditional heavy metal with great, catchy, twin-guitar riffing. Every previously-introduced element from throughout the album is brought together, crafting it all into one great closing track.

All in all, in terms of heavy metal, Guns For Hire pretty much has it all. And along with Blood Star's impressive debut earlier this year (First Sighting), this could well remain a contender for best heavy metal AOTY. Although, like many top-quality releases in recent years, this is also likely to, somehow, simply pass by many of us. I sincerely hope that isn't the case, and traditional heavy metal fans out there enjoy this album as much as I do.