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This band has been around a long time, with a history dating back to 1985 and their first release being the EP Cry in the Night in '86. So this is a long-running outfit, but their last release of any kind was the album Take 'em By Storm in 1993, so they have not been a real, active band for a while. Now, twenty years later, we get a brand-new album with Mindslave.

The first thought on hearing this is "Hey, that sounds like George Call from Aska", because it is, in fact, George Call from long-overlooked Texas band Aska. Now Aska have been inactive for a long time (since 2007's Absolute Power) so it's good to hear George and his prototypical metal wail again. He's a first-rate vocalist, and he does a lot to sell this album.

This is pretty typical US Metal, with cranky riffs and plenty of heaviness, but not much of the galloping riff-style that makes songs compulsively listenable. Despite not being proggy, this is an album of dense and studious metal that is more intellectual than visceral. Not to say there is not good stuff here, because there is. Fans of Steel Prophet and Helstar will find a lot to like here. Mindslave is not spectacular, but it is solid as a rock.