I've heard many positive comments about Birmingham's 'Marshall Law', so decided to look into their back catalogue and 'Metal Detector' was my first purchase. Firstly they are fellow Midlanders and secondly they play Power Metal, so by all accounts this should be "right up my street". Unfortunately I can't seem to get into this album, something doesn't quite click, some aspects are similar to other European Power Metal bands I like, but it all seems to come across too raw and inconsistent for my liking. I've heard them compared to 'Judas Priest' but I can't really see that many similarities here, ok yes, they are from Birmingham and utilise duel guitarists, but 'Andrew Pike' although a quality vocalist, is more of a snarler than 'Rob Halford' and although it's uncompromising Heavy Metal, not really in the vein of 'Painkiller', or for that matter even 'Jugulator'.

A short yet intense instrumental titled 'Osmium' opens, a progressive piece with an uneasy ominous, feel. The first track proper 'Twisted This' is better, a raging Thrash / Power Metal sound is supported by excellent musicianship, especially on the splendid instrumental break, while 'Andrew Pike's' snarling vocals are full of menace and power. 'War' follows in a similar approach, but I think lacks some of the refinements of the previous track, especially the trite chorus, overlooking this it's still a decent ripper with more slashing fret work. The pace shrewdly subsides for the mid tempo 'Seek and you Shall Find', an interesting effort and while 'Andrew Pike's' vocals don't totally suit the song, it's still a strong, well penned affair. It's back to the blistering again with 'Swarm', a nasty churning cut, graced with hard hitting lyrics, sweet guitar solos and top sinister vocals. Not quite so impressive is the crude, and repetitive 'Feed the Need', I'm not particularly overwhelmed by some of the Rap like vocal structuring and overall comes across too modern for my liking. Ensuing is 'Devices', a song spoiled in my opinion by the droning chorus, the rest of the track is solid, great instrumentation and vocals, just let down by bad lyrics. 'Addicted to the Pain' is somewhat reminiscent of 'Ripper' era 'Priest' and as with a lot of songs on this album, spoilt by a couple of quirky moments, all said includes great rhythm, shredding guitar work and aggressive, unorthodox layered vocals. Improvements are made with 'Empowerment' a song which surprisingly begins with a certain progressive 'Savatage' approach, only to develop into a rocker with shades of 'Metallica', of which the chorus is particularly cutting. Even better is the brisk ripper 'Sands of Time', a full-throttle belter, graced with screaming guitars from 'Southwell' and 'Martin', relentless rhythm and decent lyrics. Plenty of potential is promised with 'Meganoid', but this comes off sounding silly, with the trite childish chorus, overlooking this the rhythm work is again uncompromising and effective. The tempo falls for the 'Metallica' reminiscent 'The Seeds of Change', an uneven song with strong verses and a lacklustre chorus. The album close as it began with a mystical yet extreme instrumental, this time titled 'Iridium'.

'Metal Detector' displays plenty of potential, the guitar work, rhythm section and vocals are all excellent, but there are just too many songs that's don't come off, maybe I'm bias as it's a little removed from the straight-up Power Metal sound. However I still look forward to hearing more from this band.