Review by Lynxie on July 18, 2023.

----Welcome to Lynxie's Guide to Chinese Power Metal. Let us glimpse unto this weird little world caught in the past----

重獸 (Heavy Duty, though ''獸'' translates directly to ''beast'') is a really surprising find of mine through this little review project. Here I was thinking Iron Blade was the closest we'll ever get to the more German side of power metal, and 为了心中的骄傲 (For the Pride In Our Hearts) popped up on my search. Heavier that Iron Blade, thrashier than Eternal Power, Heavy Duty is, without doubt, the most Teutonic Chinese power metal band.

Mind, I said Teutonic, as in Running Wild/Mystic Prophecy Teutonic. Thrashier numbers like Freedom and They Will Pay really brought out the vigor of Mystic Prophecy with solid riffs, pounding drums and fist-raising chorus, whilst tracks like Fist of Rage and Why Could This Be sported some damn heavy Grave Digger-esque riffing. Dreamer or There Is Nothing... but... probably falls on the more melodic end of the spectrum with brighter guitar melody and more brainwashing chorus. The expected metal pride anthem Metal Attack is just... well, the riff is nice and banging, but when Liu Ke shouted ''heavy fucking metal'' to my ears in Chinglish, I just can't take the cheese. There must be finer ways of wording. The semi-ballad When the Right Falls actually had some quite mellow acoustic strumming and more melodic lines from Liu as well as a nice bit of soloing from Zhou Yuan and Jin Yan.

Honestly, the lustre of 为了心中的骄傲 (For the Pride In Our Hearts) is sorely tested by Liu. I mean, if it weren't for some of the more melodic lines on, say, Dreamer or When the Right Falls, I would've thought him tone-deaf. He's just shouting for the bulk of the time, and sounding strained at that. Personally, I think he can imitate some of Andy B.Franck's rasps, but he's just not trying hard enough to find his balance between melody and aggression. Oh, and the Chinglish makes me cringe so hard every time -- it takes away the German glory Zhou, Jin and Liu Yaolun had revoked with such beefy, banging riffage and pounding, dynamic drumming. The gangshouting moments on There Is Nothing... but... worked finely to get the adrenaline pumping too. Still, Liu Ke's vocal works give an amateurish feeling to an otherwise strong, mature album.

Doubtless, 为了心中的骄傲 (For the Pride In Our Hearts) is a solid debut. Very solid, like concrete, or maybe steel. Heavy Duty even made Fist of Rage into a faux-live song. By rights this should've ranked an 'excellent' by my scale. Yet, yet, the problem of Liu Ke remains; and the whole album grows monotonous after strenuous playing. It might've even worked a bit better if Heavy Duty had written their lyrics in Chinese, like Iron Blade did. Ah well, I'll keep an eye on them still. At least I could bang my head to them, and on occasions a good riff is enough to make me stay.

Highlights: 'Freedom', 'When The Right Falls', 'There Is Nothing... But...'

Rating: 7.9 out of 10