It's extremely refreshing for a reviewer when good quality music from an unsigned band appears out of the blue. I mean...we receive countless links to downloads of promos from young, hopeful bands, and frankly, many range from mediocre to shitty when it comes to both compositions and sound quality (even if they say everyone can make great music in their own living room these days - this is just NOT true!). Sometimes you wish they wouldn't have sent the email, even if they do it the best of meanings and because they have ambitions.

And then you have bands like Outliar from Cary, NC, USA. This is when it becomes a pleasure to be a hobby-reviewer. There's real talent in play here. There's authencity. There are real songs with some kind of idea behind them, and I like that.

No, it's not perfect, but Outliar have taken the obvious influences from some of their peers, Lamb of God, Pantera, Machine Head, Metallica, Testament and, I believe, some Death Angel, and used it intelligently to put together a blend of thrash plus singer Jason Ford has thrown in a more than decent thrash vocal. It works really well for me! Oh, yeah, and a solo by James Murphy on the album doesn't exactly distract points.

Nice one - should be an interesting band to follow in years to come. Check them out!