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Borrowed Time may be a modern band but they have the 80s down pat. The twin guitar harmonies and bass riffs of Iron Maiden, the slightly progressive melodies and backing vocals of Queensryche and the dark, mystical lyrics of Celtic Frost all swirl together in a decidedly lo-fi, echo-drenched assemblage of straight-up Heavy Metal. The production is rather muddy and bottom-heavy, somewhat of a drawback, but most of the material does its best to rise above those limitations. The vocals are on the higher end of the scale and the somewhat unorthodox delivery from singer J. Priest reminds me of Savage Blade's Nikko Forsberg. Musically, Borrowed Time seems bent on emulating heroes from the past and for that, I applaud them, but they haven't quite got the songwriting honed to the same sharpness as the performances. I was tapping my foot frequently while listening to tracks like "Of Nymph and Nihil" and "Dawn for the Glory Rider" but I'll be damned if I could remember the choruses or melodies after the songs ended. The closer, "A Titan's Chain," on the other hand, is easily the best song on Borrowed Time. For this track, the band summons some serious speed and ferocity, balanced with a quiet break mid-way through the song's 6:41, and delivers an intense listening experience. The bass gallops, the guitar pickups smoke from the lightning-fast strumming and Priest's vocals are a wild peal of Metal fury. This track smokes and if the rest of the songs were this good, Borrowed Time would be an instant classic. Even though that isn't the case, Borrowed Time is well worth checking out if you are into the old school and current bands like ZUUL, Enforcer, Striker, etc.