Another month of winter is behind
us and it’s the last Saturday of February, so it must be time for the
Harbinger’s Killer Picks! Some really fun albums for you this month. Without
further ado, I shine the spotlight on five LPs this month.
First, the UK’s Tailgunner led an all-out attack on February 6th via Napalm Records on their sophomore album, Midnight Blitz. This is old school British metal at its finest, folks. I only recently became aware of Tailgunner via their awesome rendition of Metallica’s “Hit the Lights” featured on the No Life ‘til Leather - A Tribute to Metallica's Kill ‘Em All released last November. I then proceeded to take their 2023 debut LP, Guns for Hire, for a spin and really liked what I heard. This was a band I would put on my radar going forward. Within the span of two short months, a couple of singles from their follow-up LP were released, followed by the Midnight Blitz LP itself and, man, they really went all-out on this one! Majestically produced by former Judas Priest axeman KK Downing, this record oozes classic metal with its every fiber. The quintet, led by charismatic frontman Craig Cairns, plays a perfect mixture of Priest meets Maiden and the guitar prowess of Rhea Thompson is nothing short of spectacular. If we break it down, the four singles released so far all showcase different aspects of the band’s music: the title track and first single already feels like a classic metal anthem, where Cairns sounds a bit like the Scorpions’ Klaus Meine; the second single, “Tears in Rain”, is both an homage to Blade Runner and a metal ballad just like in the olden days; the grandiose third single, “Eulogy”, is a multi-layered song and certainly a highlight of the album; and their fourth and latest single, “War in Heaven”, featuring Adam Wakeman on keyboards, is epic and powerful and my pick for best track of the LP. After that, there are still six phenomenal songs left to round out Midnight Blitz, including gems like the kick-ass “Follow Me in Death”; the short and sweet “Dead Until Dark”; and another superb song on their recurring theme of Bombers, “Night Raids”. Midnight Blitz is a more polished album than its predecessor and it’s all hits, no misses for this hard-working band. I see great things to come for them in the future. Mark my words, Tailgunner will EXPLODE in 2026! A sure-fire contender for the Top Albums of the Year list. Welcome to the Revolution!
Napalm Records’ Bandcamp page for Tailgunner
Second, Raleigh, North Carolina’s
adventure metal quintet Mega Colossus will unleash their fifth LP, Watch Out!, on March 6th via
the Cruz Del Sur Music label. This is the first time I’ve heard of “adventure
metal” and you know what, that term suits this band perfectly! They have a
unique sound to them, churning out fantasy-themed lyrics, intricate guitar
playing along with melodic vocal harmonies. I’d never heard of Mega Colossus
but the band has been around for twenty years and from what I gather, they seem
to have a rabid following. The LP’s title, Watch
Out!, is an homage to Ronnie James Dio’s famous line “Look out!” often
found in his lyrics, from his tenure with Rainbow to Sabbath to his band Dio.
If there’s one thing that stands out in this record is that the boys are truly
having fun playing metal. The opener, “The Bad Thing”, is one of the record’s
best songs, followed by the first single, the sing-along, sci-fi themed
“Battlefront”. The second single, “Tag in Your Friend”, while melodic and breezy,
didn’t particularly grab me. “Good Hunting” is a catchy mid-tempo tune but it
goes on for a tad too long. This is my main issue with this record; half of the
songs on here overstay their welcome. That’s a lot for a 7-track, 45-minute
album. The ambitious “The Halls of Mystikos” is a pretty solid song but overall
suffers from that 7-minute runtime. “Here Lies You” is in my opinion the
strongest track of the LP and my favourite, with its intricate instrumentation
and prog leanings channelling Yes. The Dio-inspired “Bloodless” is a decent
closer, but also the lengthiest track running at over 8 minutes; it drags on far
too long for my taste. Cut two minutes out and it’d be a much tighter song. But
that’s just my two cents; I have a feeling fans of Mega Colossus will really
dig those longer tunes. In the end, Watch
Out! is a mixed bag for me. Mega Colossus is clearly a group of talented
musicians and singer putting their own original spin on the tried-and-true
traditional metal formula and for that, I applaud them. Still, I’d recommended
the LP to long-time fans of the band and metal aficionados as well as it’s
worth listening to.
Mega Colossus on Bandcamp
Third, American heavy metal supergroup Axe Dragger
will release their self-titled debut LP via the mighty Ripple Music on March 6th.
Composed of Pantera’s first vocalist, Terry Glazer, along with Fu Manchu
guitarist Bob Balch, ex-Pentagram drummer Pete Campbell, and Dark Funeral
bassist Fredrik Isaksson, Axe Dragger is an old school heavy metal album. I’d
personally describe this first offering as metal that leans more on the side of
heavy rock than traditional metal. Bob Balch’s signature guitar sound is
present throughout and Glaze’s soaring vocals are in top form. I know I’m in
the minority, but I always really dug Pantera’s first couple of records back
when they were more of a glam metal band. Glaze was their frontman from 1982 to
1986 and eventually left due to disagreements with the band's musical direction.
He was replaced by Phil Anselmo and the rest, as they say, is history. Pantera
went on to become a huge metal band and one of the originators of the groove
metal genre. Anyhow, back to Axe Dragger. Each one of the quartet’s members
pulls their weight, but it’s Glaze that really gives them a unique edge in my
opinion. I gotta say though, the album was a bit of a grower on me. It took me
a couple of spins to really appreciate it, but after that, I was able to
recognize how great it actually is. Surprisingly, none of the three singles thus
far are among my favourite tracks on the album; it’s the deeper cuts that I
enjoy the most. The highlights for me are “Give You the Rope”, a catchy
high-energy tune with a splendid guitar solo courtesy of Balch; the fantasy
battle song “Iron Rider”, which is my personal fave; “Eat Me from the Inside”,
a slow and heavy, swampy track; “The Damned Will Cry”, another song with occult
fantasy lyrics and cool weeping guitar; and the closer, “Death Is Calling My Name”,
a heavy song straight from the battlefield with a head-bobbing, chugging riff.
Axe Dragger, the album and the band, is a terrific effort from four seasoned
veterans. Headbangers of the world need to take notice and listen to these axe
wielders; it’s one of Ripple Music’s strongest releases so far in 2026.
Ripple Music’s Bandcamp page for Axe Dragger
Fourth, German power metallers Iron Savior will
return with an all covers album titled Awesome
Anthems of the Galaxy on March 27th via the Perception imprint of
metal label Reigning Phoenix Music. It’s hard to believe that Iron Savior are celebrating
their 30th year this year—how time flies! In between albums, they’ve
decided to put their spin on Marvel’s Guardians
of the Galaxy mixtape soundtracks with this latest LP of theirs. A whopping
17 songs, over 70 minutes of pop, soft rock, and new wave hits covered to
perfection by the fan-favorite band. Awesome
Anthems of the Galaxy takes iconic ‘80s pop songs and gives them a metal
flavour. The record covers a wide selection of tunes and artists, and I can
tell you that after multiple spins, frontman Piet Sielck and his crew have done
justice to every single one of them. That’s no small feat. Some of the songs
covered include Irene Cara’s “Fame”, two tracks from the movie Flashdance— “Maniac” and “What A
Feeling” —Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds”, and Blondie’s “Call Me” to
name a few. Some of the highlights for me are their rendition of A-Ha’s
timeless “Take on Me”, Journey’s classic “Separate Ways”, and Patrick Swayze’s Dirty Dancing ballad, “She’s Like the
Wind”. Overall, it’s a good mixture of bangers and ballads. A stellar
collection of tunes for the nostalgic metal music fan as well as Iron Savior
devotees. Awesome Anthems of the Galaxy is
just what it promises: splendid anthems that will make you smile and want to sing
along.
Perception’s page for Iron Savior
Fifth, Baltimore, Maryland’s
street metal/motorpunk quintet Total Maniac will set free their second LP, Love Overdrive, on March 27th.
This is one hell of a fun record! A brisk 27-minute, 8-track affair that
delivers the goods in spades. Firmly rooted in late ‘70s/early ‘80s punk, metal
and rock ‘n’ roll, Love Overdrive is chock-full
of raw energy. The LP is a follow-up to their 2022 self-titled debut and the
band has honed its collective skills since then. From the get-go, the opening
title track blows everything away in its path with echoes of Di’Anno-era
Maiden. “Devil in Plain Sight” and “Just Another” are catchy, breakneck tunes
with incendiary riffs; “Drinkin Our Way To Hell”, the first single, is bound to
become a bar and pub anthem; “Early Grave” and the apt-titled “Rock and Roll”
are rapid-fire rock gems; “Set Fire to the Sun” is a dizzying punkish track full
of vitriol, while the closer, “Flatline”, is a ripping thrash song reminiscent
of Metallica’s “Whiplash”. Frontman Diamond Dustin has a tremendous vocal
presence and the brutal onslaught of guitars, drum, and bass perfectly
complement him. Love Overdrive is a
lean, mean, scorcher of an album. Not a bad song here; all killer, no filler as
the saying goes. Fans of punk, thrash metal, sleazy hard rock, of Motorhead and
Venom will fancy Total Maniac and their latest record.
Total Maniac on Bandcamp
And that’s the gist of it, folks! The year is well under way now and there’ll be lots of terrific releases in the coming months. I can’t wait to listen to all this great music! Tune back here on March 28th for the next issue of the Harbinger’s Killer Picks. Until then, stay safe and crank up the tunes!
