Today, Shadow Kingdom Records announces October 25th as the international release date for Pounder’s highly anticipated third album, Thunderforged, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
By now, Pounder should require little introduction. From their humble beginnings with their debut demo in 2017 to the Faster Than Fire 7” for Shadow Kingdom a year later, Pounder’s ascent was hastened by their proud ‘n’ powerful debut album, Uncivilized, in early 2019. In no uncertain terms, Uncivilized truly put the band on the international metal map and made ears stand to attention. Despite their collective pedigree, Pounder‘s stock-in-trade showed itself as a seemingly effortless, unselfconscious conglomeration of classic metal styles – from a firm foundation of NWOBHM on to hints of early ’80s speed metal, Sunset Strip flash, and AOR accessibility. Amazingly, Pounder eclipsed that momentous first full-length with the all-guns-blazing follow-up Breaking the World in 2021. Leaner, meaner, and all-too-accurately titled, Breaking the World saw the band – vocalist/guitarist Matt Harvey, bassist Alejandro Corredor, and lead guitarist Tom Draper – getting both heavier and more anthemic, more American in their metal but also more wide-ranging in their reach.
While the bar was set judiciously high (and the world was indeed broken), Pounder return with a titanic third full-length and veritable raison d’être: Thunderforged! Third albums are arguably as decisive to a band’s fate as a sophomore one; while second albums prove whether a hot debut was just a flash in the pan, it’s that third album that establishes a band’s staying power – whether they’ll just spin their wheels, rehashing past glories but lazier, or stay true to a strident sound and expound upon it. And so it goes with Pounder’s Thunderforged, whereby the band (here joined by session drummer Mike Heller) explore a moodier side (“Deeper Than Blood,” “Metal Eternal”) alongside loud ‘n’ proud expressions of pure HEAVY METAL. Less flash but just as much excitement, more rivetheaded and red-blooded, and exhibiting a swagger that sometimes borders on parody if not for their overwhelming authenticity and commitment to the true-metal cause, Pounder pound and push and pulse with more poise than ever and an absolutely addicting charisma that’s larger than life. Granted, Thunderforged is still as much of a love letter to 1985 as any Pounder record – indeed, Harvey’s clever wordplay wittily immortalizes metal tropes (and hey, THAT COVER) – but with a pronounced emphasis on speeding-into-the-night chargers and a clean ‘n’ crisp production that thankfully doesn’t sacrifice any grit, the band simply sound like they’re at the height of their powers. In other words, you know what they came here to do: “Get Pounded”!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Line of Fire” HERE at Shadow Kingdom‘s Bandcamp, where the album can also be preordered. Aforementioned cover artwork and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Pounder’s Thunderforged
1. Sound & Fury
2. Thunderforge
3. Metal Eternal
4. Comin Loose
5. Line Of Fire
6. Get Pounded
7. Deeper Than Blood
8. Wet & Wreckless
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