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Heavy Is the Head is the third full-length album from Children of the Reptile, a band out of North Carolina that has flown under my radar as I can't ever recall running across them in the past despite them being active for almost 15 years. They play straight-up heavy metal with influences from the NWOBHM, '70s occult hard rock, thrash and even punk all whipped into their own unique blend. Songs like "Burner" and "Silent Circle" are the kind of hard-rocking metal tunes that I loved to blast from my car's cassette deck while racing down the highway with the windows open. They are adrenaline-pumping, fist in the air anthems with choruses you can sing along with. Cuts like "Adventurers," with its punk attitude and in your face lyrics, and "Seven Days of the Fire," which starts out slow and ominous before shifting to a thrashy chorus show off the band's versatility and refusal to conform to one single subgenre. I prefer the rocking songs to the thrashier stuff but it's all good, highlighted by Children of the Reptile's distinctive style. If you are into bands like Night Demon and Screamer but think an injection of Walpyrgus, '70s Scorpions and Manilla Road would make them even better, grab a copy of Heavy Is the Head.