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In a year when there are many good, if not great Heavy Metal albums, the debut of the U.S. metal band Züül comes out. I'd read somewhere that this was a True Metal album much like the underground scene of that country, but in reality this has more in common with the NWOBHM, much like the Swedish Enforcer. In that sense Out of Time is has no surprises but I was most impressed by was how the band manage to capture that style so effortlessly.

It is not their playing ability that makes this band stand out as you have heard everything done here before. But their approach to songwriting has clearly been formed by listening to bands like Saxon and Angel Witch. Right from the first song, the title track, you start to notice those influences, it served them well since it helped to cover the limitations that this band has. That cut is the longest one and it also happens to be the best one here, unfortunately, Züül struggle to maintain the same level of greatness.

Don't get me wrong, most songs after that are very good at least but to me they failed to get to the awesomeness of the opener. Maybe it was because they follow the same structure but for some reason I didn't enjoy them quite as much. However being just shy of greatness is not a crime or anything to be ashamed of in my book, in fact this record gets better and better every single time. Another aspect that I liked in the album was the recording job of it, rough and raw but listenable. It manages to capture the underground charm, essential when you are making an album in this genre.

At the end of the day, Out of Time is an awesome debut. It doesn't try to be anything that it is not but as good as it is I don't think that is the best album of 2010. Züül is definitely a band to watch for in the future, as I believe that they can produce a classic very soon. Until then this is a safe purchase and an album worthy of being in every fan's collection.