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I'm starting to wonder if there's something in the water in Canada. Maybe they've been importing some from Finland because the number of metal bands from the second-largest country in the world in terms of total area grows seemingly by the day. Metalian isn't the most original name, but fans of bands playing '80s-influenced metal (the "NWOTHM" to some) shouldn't be put off by that. They just want to know if the music kicks ass and, on their fourth album, Beyond the Wall, Metalian bring the steel-toed boots. Songs like "Cold Thunder", "Motorhorse" and "Fire on the Road" are barn burners, the band feeding the flames with copious guitar licks and high-pitched screams. The guys lean hard into their songs, and you get the feeling that they left it all on the table when they were putting this album together and no performance that wasn't 110% was committed to tape (going with the '80s vibe; it was probably digital). As I said, the songs are going to sound familiar to anyone who's been following fellow Canadian bands like Traveler and Skull Fist as well as European flag bearers like Screamer and Ambush, but that won't stop you from adding it to the playlist. If you like your metal to be a soundtrack to screaming down the highway, tires chirping with every gear change, on the way to throw some fists in the air at a metal show, shove a copy of Beyond the Wall into the car's cassette deck and stomp on the gas.