Finally! This US band has a debut album out with new tracks and a fresh approach to traditional heavy metal. Their previous EP’s, singles and demos have been of a high standard and this continues to be the case for this first album. I have been waiting for this album for a long time and I was pretty pissed off I missed their Keep It True set whilst waiting for a cab to the venue, especially when I hear some of these new songs!
‘Libertine’ mixes epic and traditional metal perfectly with a consistent backbone of the rhythm section with brash lead breaks that retain melody and overall classic metal values without trying to sound “classic” as some bands do. ‘Dawn for the Glory Rider’ has some amazing solo runs with an improved vocal delivery as some of the earlier tunes suffered a straining in the higher register. Make no mistake, this one should have your doing air guitar and raising your fist in the air, a thoroughly real metal experience that I want to hear time after time. One massive positive point of this album is the use of melody both from the guitars and in the vocals, not many young bands can pull this off but Detroit’s Borrowed Time sound to have nailed it and sound one with each other.
‘Of Nymph and Nihil’ is outstanding and continues the fret-board shredding immediately from the start. Borrowed Time then delve into some time changes that manage to build an epic pretence for the remainder of the track which when it kicks in retains a raw edge signalling natural progression, as I don’t think studio trickery or auto tune was used in the making of this record. ‘Pygmalion’ has a touch more groove like Thin Lizzy and Wytch Hazel (a band they shared a split release with earlier in the recording career). But part way through this track they truly make the music exciting by increasing the tempo and with it comes genuine entertainment. Closing the album is the storming ‘Titan’s Curse’ that has one or two Manilla Road references to it (BT have previously covered MR’s ‘Necropolis’), especially J. Priest’s vocals that now feel more comfortable in the higher register as the album progresses.
Out of the recent crop of bands imitating classic/NWOBHM/epic metal, Borrowed Time are their own masters and have some individual substance to their music, they are not a covers band. ‘Borrowed Time’ as a release has some real grit and determination, energy and balls to you and I and it sounds genuine with some really cool guitar riffs and licks and the added bonus of being able to produce some melody that’s real.
(8.5/10 Paul Maddison)
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