Review by JD on April 27, 2014.

Texas has been an unknown source of metal, and not just carbon-copy cowboys and line dancing to music that never inspired me. The timeless Pantera, the powerful Solitude Aeturnus and the party-till-ya’ puke Hellyeah among others, have proven that given the right direction – they rock harder than most out there. Another Texan group is there to continue the Lone Star states’ headbanging prowess, and I am here to fill you all in.

Taking their inspiration from NWOBHM and the same era’s American Metal, this one time thrash act (originally known as HammerWhore) came back from a short hiatus and a small line-up change to become Cruxiter. Now dealing straight ahead metal, influenced heavily by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest they now rule the Panhandle scene.

The Iron Maiden influence smacks hard and many times throughout the album, musically getting very close to the sound and even some of the riffs are too damned close. Other influences rear up and are blatant in most of the album, but it is done in a way that most would overlook it all. My favorite tracks here is Maiden like romp of "Paradise Found" and the Keel inspired "Tall Dark Glass", both are very close to the inspiration and yet they seem to make it not cheesy like. I usually do not like near -tribute bands thinking they are original but Cruxiter makes it fun. It's inspiring as they make their metal with reverence and give more than a smattering of originality paying homage to their peers rather than ripping off shit.

This is pretty good record from these Texans – even though it was recorded on the too treble side for my taste. It has my attention and will love to hear what they make later. I like it quite a bit after four plays back to back, just don’t love it... that is still is pretty damned good. I can recommend getting it, it’s up to you all to like or love it.

Rating: 8 out of 10