Firstly, a huge thank you to Robert from BANDIT for reaching out to us here at TheNWOTHM and asking us to review his album.

BANDIT is a sort of one-man project from Senožeče, Slovenia, and is 100% DIY. The album art was done personally by frontman/guitarist/bassist, Robert Balordo. Robert describes their music as classic heavy metal, but with some speed metal influences. Speaking of influences, in an interview with Filthy Dogs of Metal, Robert said that the main influences for BANDIT were, JUDAS PRIEST, MANOWAR, OMEN, RUNNING WILD, as well as, AGENT STEEL and SODOM.

Robert reached out to us personally here at TheNWOTHM, and as mentioned before, the band is entirely DIY. If you’re not familiar with Slovenia, or it’s metal scene, I would highly recommend that you get acquainted ASAP. For being a little country, with barely over 2 million inhabitants, the Sunny Side of the Alps has been churning out a small, but steady stream of solid metal acts since its independence in the early-mid 90s during the early stages of the Yugoslav Wars. SKYEYE being among the more well-known Slovene metal acts.

REVIEW

Let’s begin with a quick look at the album art and the band’s logo! I love the album art, I know some will be put off by the colored pencil look, but I love that DIY aesthetic, and I think the general imagery is solid and with some striking colors. As for the logo, I’m a big fan of that as well! It’s solidly medieval looking, while still being legible.

Metal Infantry begins with “Lion of St. Mark”, a roughly one minute long instrumental intro to the album. I loved this little nugget, it’s got a stellar bass groove throughout, and some nice quiet leads. It really hearkened me back to early NWOBHM.

Next up was “Heavy Metal”, which starts off with some slick leadwork, and our first foray into Robert’s vocals. He sold himself short in our emails, he’s got quite the pipes. The rawness of the production adds to the overall experience a ton. I’m a fan!

Following that was “Iron Hand”. An evil laughs kicks this one off before giving way to a more high-pitched vocal performance. This track is one of the more speed metal oriented ones for sure, with some harsh drumming and vox that somewhat reminded me of the early days of thrash. Speed metal can be pretty hit or miss for me sometimes, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

“Surrender or Die” followed and was probably my least favorite of the bunch, the delivery of the vocals didn’t mesh well with me (though that could be a personal taste thing). Despite that, this track did remind me fondly of RUNNING WILD, it just felt like it was missing something that I couldn’t name.

After that was “Knee-deep in the Dead”, another of the more speed metal offerings, and a return to the high-pitched vox. This song really reminded me of someone, but I have not been able to put my finger on it. I think OVERKILL? Regardless, I really enjoyed the ferocity in this one and the vocals really hit me. Plus, Robert broke out a freaking chainsaw for a second! That’s always badass.

“Shadow of the Night” was next up and began with a gnarly riff and thundering charge of bass and drums. The instruments won me over within seconds, and Robert’s vocals are so raw that it’s amazing. It’s another quicker paced track that doesn’t overstay its welcome, and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Following that banger was “Hellburner”, the shortest proper track on the album at only 2:50. The riffing in this track was just mind-blowingly satisfying, loved it. This was, appropriately a nice speed metal romp that weirdly reminded me of GAMA BOMB, for some reason.

After that was the penultimate track, “Pyrates and Bandits”. A solid riff starts us off, before the slashing of blades opens the track properly. This is another one that reminded me heavily of the criminally underrated RUNNING WILD, though I preferred this one mightily over “Surrender or Die”.

Finally, to close things out is “Metal Infantry”, the title track. This was the longest track on the album, at exactly 4:30. Starting off with some more solid leadwork, before giving way to a proper banshee shriek that then lead to even more great riffage. Seriously, these guys can go on guitar!

CONCLUSION

While the rawness of BANDIT is likely to put some people off, and the unpolished nature of the vocals will assuredly cause others to switch the station, I think BANDIT shows extreme levels of potential in this debut (and DIY!) release. The riffing is top tier, some of the best of the year thus far. I personally really enjoyed the vocalwork, but I see how it’s an acquired taste.

TheNWOTHM Score: 8/10

BANDIT
Bandcamp: https://banditmetal.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Banditmetalband

Bandit Interview with Filthy Dogs of Metal: https://www.filthydogsofmetal.com/interviews/interview-with-bandit-1