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I'm always in the mood for a good Power Metal whirlwind, and that's exactly what you get from German double-kickers Stormhunter. This is the kind of thing you used to see coming out on Limb Music pretty much every month, that being highly polished melodic madness with catchy vocal refrains, slick harmony guitars, rampant percussion, and song titles like "Inner Demon" and "Robot Age". For a debut on a small label, Crime And Punishment is quite an achievement, and while it's not up there with some of the better releases this year, it's highly enjoyable, if not a little too predictable. What you get here is a full speed ahead romp through the classic moments of Running Wild, Iron Maiden, Helloween, and Iron Savior, with a couple of obscure nods to Freternia, Ironware, and Steel Attack. It's fast, it's exciting, it's led by twin guitar solos – what more can you ask for?

As a matter of fact, the vocals of Frank Urschler could be more expressive, and the overall collection would be strengthened by an injection of epic, more fantasy-based material, but in general, if you're looking for a reminder of why you love this style in the first place, keep your eyes glued to Stormhunter. They might just make it to Limb Music yet.