Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Ambush - Firestorm (2014)

Sweden has this penchant for spitting out authentic and well-constructed heavy metal.  Looking at the likes of Screamer and Enforcer as well as the likes of Mystik, it is a country of many pairs of tight trousers and leather fingerless gloves it seems.  Despite having a dodgy band name, Ambush deliver an excellent bash down memory lane for anyone wanting to revisit the metal heyday of the eighties.  Big shiny band logo?  Check.  Galloping rhythms? Check.  Lot's of "horns up" band photos?  Check.  The list of reference points is virtually infinite.

Clearly raised on a healthy diet of Priest and Accept the band reinvent few wheels on their 2014 debut.  It never gets dull or repetitive though and there's more to this than just flogging a dead horse or paying tribute to days gone by.  They provide a high-energy and driven performance over nine tracks and structure an album full of anthemic and genuine heavy metal that sticks in the brain.

Opting for a consistently high-tempo to most tracks the album flows nicely and the lack of any ballads ensures the album never feels like it is straying into the hard rock territory I occasionally fear it is treading close to.  The lead work on the guitar feels measured and if honest I would like a bit more of it as although the power in the engine is the riffs there's a few licks missing for me to spice things up enough to make the album a truly standout release.  Overall though the instrumentation is solid and strong sounding giving a real sense of unison to the band's performance.

For a debut album it shows lots of promise and I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of their discography pans out as I explore it over the coming months.