Lord of the Wasteland

This Swedish retro-metal band's debut album comes adorned with Road Warrior-esque cover art depicting a car roaring through a post-apocalyptic desert, driven by a skeleton/Terminator and threatened by some kind of mechanical vulture. It's so perfectly early '80s, it's easy to predict what the music will sound like before hitting "play." It's NWOBHM-style speed metal, slightly thrashy but mostly indebted to early Iron Maiden and other similar acts; fans of Steelwing's Swedish peers Enforcer, as well as the L.A.-based White Wizzard, will find much to love here. Vocalist Riley has a high-pitched, keening voice that's sure to drive old-school metalheads, who remember Rob Halford's high notes on classic Judas Priest albums, into paroxysms of nostalgia. (The band's debt to Priest is pretty big; they've covered "Steeler" and "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown)" on a limited-edition EP in their home country.) Behind him, the other members shout gang-style on songs like "Roadkill (Or Be Killed)." The guitar riffs and harmonies are excellent, and the songs are surprisingly catchy, with a relentless rhythmic drive that recalls the hell-bent intensity of early Metallica. "The Illusion" has an Iron Maiden-esque gallop, while "The Nightwatcher" combines the rock & roll gallop of Priest's Hell Bent for Leather album with thrash's staccato assault. Some songs are too long, heading for the seven-minute mark when they should have stopped at four, but overall, Lord of the Wasteland is a fun exercise in looking backward.