Italian TIR, or T.I.R., or Total Inferno Rock, is an Italian band who have been active in the underground for ages and finally unleash an album upon the world, fittingly entitled Heavy Metal.
The style is quite simply, as the title of the album indicates, pure unadulterated traditional heavy metal. It is perhaps not the most original heavy metal album of all time, but it is solid and full of all the things that made traditional 80s metal enjoyable. Full of references to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, Heavy Metal should be familiar territory to fans of good ole heavy metal. Especially Iron Maiden (actually their more recent work) seem to be a source of inspiration, and thus there are plenty of melodic guitars and catchy vocal lines.
The vocals fall under the rubric of typical Italian nasal vocals, but, since most of the lyrics are in Italian, this type of singing actually seems more natural and display less alterity than when used with English-language lyrics, so the vocals do come across powerful on this release.
Heavy Metal definitely lives up to its title, and fans of traditional heavy metal would definitely enjoy it, and, if open-minded, also appreciate the way that the Italian language contributes to the overall sound of the album.
Track listing:
1. Satan's Ride
2. Dark Rebel
3. Heavy Metal TIR
4. Vai
5. Il volo delle aquile
6. Fire Sword
7. Nell'anima
8. Shout
9. Metal in My Life
10. Hidra
11. Roma