Band:	Traveler
Album:	Traveler
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	February 22, 2019
A review by:	nikarg

01. Starbreaker
02. Street Machine
03. Behind The Iron
04. Konamized
05. Up To You
06. Fallen Heroes
07. Mindless Maze
08. Speed Queen

Traveler are a new traditional heavy/melodic/speed metal band from Canada that released a demo last year which made an impact among the fans of the style, despite its poor production. Their self-titled debut should make an even bigger impact now that the sound has immensely improved.

The 1980s are all the rage at the moment, and it is quite difficult to separate the bland bands that are merely uninspired replicas of the great old ones from the talented acts that have adopted this vintage style, but also possess the songwriting talent to justify their existence. Traveler belong to the latter group of bands just like their labelmates, Gatekeeper, with whom they share the same vocalist, Jean-Pierre Abboud.

However, unlike Gatekeeper and many other heavy metal revivalist bands, Traveler do not go for this epic, dragon-slaying, knight-riding-a-white-horse type of metal but instead opt for a speedy, havoc-wreaking, gas-pedal-to-the-floor dynamite. They serve a gorgeous mixture of speed metal and NWOBHM with obvious influences that include Riot circa Thundersteel and especially pre-Powerslave Iron Maiden as far as the -high in the mix- galloping bass and the super-melodic twin guitar harmonies are concerned. As a result, Traveler is fast and punchy and refuses to let up throughout its runtime. An exception to this rule is "Fallen Heroes", which features a mid-tempo, tap-your-foot-on-the-floor riff, but it also picks up the pace halfway through the song as if the band are unable to restrain themselves and just have to go all-in. And the choice of the Walls Of Jericho-driven "Speed Queen" to close the album proves exactly that desire of theirs to be faster than a bullet.

The blazing guitars are undoubtedly at the forefront of this heavy metal assault with hooky and memorable riffs, tasty licks and staggering solos and guitarist Matt Ries deserves every praise, being the man responsible for the songwriting. I also cannot help but proclaim that Abboud is now one of my favourite new vocalists. He sings with sheer passion and great range, and his low notes remind me of the one and only Brian Ross (of Satan and Blitzkrieg fame). This is probably why my only major complaint about this album is the instrumental "Konamized", which feels like a half-finished idea and is sorely missing the expressive vocals that lift the other tracks to higher levels of enjoyment. If you want me to nitpick some more, I'd say that I'd have preferred it if some songs were a tad shorter in length and if the band had mixed up the tempo a little bit.

Nitpicks aside, Traveler make as big an impression as Satan's Hallow did with their debut a couple of years ago (and I sincerely hope they won't have the same fate). Amidst an overwhelming and inexplicable emergence of retro bands and with budget probably lower than the average monthly salary in their home country, they have delivered an album of pure energy and so fulfilling that you don't feel the urge to go back and listen to any iconic album released decades ago. Instead, you are more likely to feel the need to play it again and again.

"Feel the reign, left in pain, never to be seen again
He's Starbreaker
End the lives who live in vain, no one left unslained
He's Starbreaker"