If you are of a certain age group (OK, over 40), you will actually remember when heavy metal seemed to discover itself as a genre and blossom into something really special. This would be the late '70's and very early '80's. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was the hottest musical phenomena going if you weren't into sappy techno-pop and bands were starting to sprout all over the place that identified themselves proudly as "heavy metal." Many of these bands had a rough-hewn charm that today's slick practitioners lack completely. I am often nostalgic for the simpler metal of those times.

So, too, apparently is Portland, Oregon band Dark Black. These guys could pass for a forgotten band from the NWOBHM or maybe one of the early American power metal bands like Jag Panzer and Omen. No ProTools or drum triggers for these cats...they plug in and jam. A mixture of Iron Maiden, Saxon, early Metallica and Manowar might best describe the Dark Black sound, which thrives on wailing guitar solos, thunderous drums and more riffs than you can shake a Flying V at.

Complete with Frazetta-style cover, I would say The Barbarian's Hammer is all good except for one glaring problem, which is the singing of front man Tim. To say this guy is unpolished is basically like saying the sun is hot. Sure, rough vocals can have their appeal, but this is going too far. Tim is enthusiastic but can't carry a tune in a bucket. He's tolerable to me for most of the record because the song quality is so high, but when he tries for a shrieking falsetto, I feel like grabbing a gun and shooting the stereo. It's bad, real bad. I imagine instead what a guy like Tim Owens could do with this band. But all in all, "The Barbarian's Hammer" is kind of a cool time capsule release that recaptures the energy and innocence of a vanished era of metal. For more info, and to order the CD check out Dark Black on Myspace.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2006 Volume 3 at lulu.com/strangesound.