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I first heard of Metal Inquisitor back in 2005 when they released Doomsday for the Heretic. Time flies. I haven't heard all their albums but what I've heard for them has been consistently good old-school heavy metal, and Panopticon is no exception. Lots of singalong stuff thanks to the singer's engaging style and catchy vocal melodies, fist-in-the-air metal that has no shortage of cheese—and I mean that in a good way—make this album quite addictive for any fan of '80s heavy metal. The album is quite accessible without compromising much musically; it's crunchy and heavy enough to please the seasoned metalhead but might be just accessible enough to draw in the rock and hard rock crowd. In the grand scheme of things, Panopticon isn't original, but it's fun and the band are good at this stuff. It's like the '80s never ended and albums of the era were still being released.