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Whoa... Listening to Wastoid is almost like taking a trip 20 years back in time. I first became aware of this band at the Classic Metal Fest 3 in Chicago and was quite impressed by their performance (somehow because of the name, I wasn't expecting much - my bad.) It's a bit difficult to pinpoint their sound, but I think a pretty accurate description would be a mix of NWOBHM along with some 70s hard rock, and a bit of a Manowar-esque vibe (especially live.) Sounds a little cheesy maybe? Well, to some extent they are, but in a good way. The bands seems to have gathered influence from all the big classic bands - Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Angel Witch, even some Black Sabbath vibes here and there - just to name a few. While some bands attempting this would probably just pass as copycats, Wastoid actually do this very well, and want it or not, you'll end up spinning this CD over and over, banging your head with your fist in the air. Most songs are so damn catchy that I just can't get them out of my head. I haven't seen so many hymns to rock 'n' roll in a LONG time, and definitely not on such a recent release! Lots of cool guitar riffs ("Leif Erickson Overture" will make you overdose on guitar melodies) and very good vocal work overall. Ah hell, I might as well stop right here or this will drag for several pages. ;)

This is an independent release so the booklet is quite minimal - there's just some writing on the back of the front cover, plus the logo with band pics and the track listing on the back cover, but I don't mind a "minimal" packaging with such good content. The production is pretty good overall, although I think their sound could have been better - sometimes it feels a bit restrained. If you listen to the CD and then see them live, you'll see (hear) what I'm talking about. But, again, for an independent release, this is quite alright in my book. Twenty years ago, these guys would probably have become big pretty quick, but in today's market they have a lot more work ahead of them to get some recognition, especially since the common frame of mind is to ignore classic heavy metal as "not cool" and the focus is into European power metal and death/black metal. Do yourselves a favor and jump out of the current trends and give classic metal bands like Wastoid a try.