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Calling Lethal Tender, the second release from Canada's Bloodsport, an EP is generous. It has two songs, though both are over five minutes apiece, which makes it a long single. The brevity, the odd cover art, the focus on Jean Claude van Damme films for lyrical inspiration might combine to scare people off, but if you like '80s metal, do yourself a favor and look past all that stuff. The songs "Lethal Tender" and "Lion's Den" are played with bombastic energy and feature some punchy riffs (sorry, couldn't resist) and wailing vocals that recall very early Armored Saint (Metal Massacre II era) and Queensryche (Queensryche EP era). I'm not saying the songs are at that level but, damn, they are pretty good. I can't get the chorus of "Lethal Tender" out of my head. I hope the fact this band has only released two singles in the past three years is not because they don't have more material and that we see a full album of their straight ahead '80s metal worship. I wouldn't call myself a van Damme aficionado but maybe Timecop next time, Bloodsport?