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I rather liked Pounder's Faster than Fire EP and, as a result, I looked forward to the band's debut full-length. February 2019 saw the release of that album, titled Uncivilized, via Hells Headbangers. Pounder's music is rooted in the early '80s with a little NWOBHM, a little US metal and a little European metal woven into their songs. Gone is the thrashy tendency some of the Faster than Fire material possessed but that doesn't mean Pounder have slowed their roll. Cuts like "Fuck Off and Die" and "Red Hot Leather" move along briskly and feature choruses that are catchy in their simplicity. There are a few slower numbers ("Long Time No Love", "Answer the Call") but they don't get the blood pumping the way the speedier tracks do. I hear the early efforts of bands like Krokus, Dokken and Motley Crue in Pounder's punchy, upbeat songwriting, sometimes very obviously so but what band doesn't build on (or borrow from) bands that went before? Uncivilized isn't breaking the mold nor is it the best stuff out there but it will do quite nicely blasting in the car on the way to a show.