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Original Virgin Steele guitarist Jack Starr is back with his Burning Starr band and their seventh full-length, Stand Your Ground. More of the excellent US Power Metal Starr has been creating his entire career makes up the bulk of Stand Your Ground. The riffs spill out of the speakers in torrents as the band whirls through early songs like "Secrets We Hide," "The Enemy" and the title track. Starr's guitar is crunchy without being abrasive and his solos complement the songs in an understated way. No needless wanking on the fretboard here. Singer Todd Michael Hall has a prototypical high-pitched and powerful voice perfect for this kind of music. There are some warts on this otherwise solid album including the egregiously commercial "Destiny" and the unnecessary final minute and a half of "Stand Your Ground" where the band changes the style of the song from traditional Heavy Metal into a bluesy, LA sound. If you look past those minor imperfections, Stand Your Ground just rocks and rocks. Fans of Thundersteel-era Riot, Omen, early Virgin Steele, etc. take note.