When Iron Maiden finally decided that India would be a good destination for a proper show, there was one camel that ended up in the trauma ward with severe spinal damage. It was the one about being forced to endure a gazillion different covers of The Trooper, with varying degrees of competence. Now that we've seen the song being played the way it should, just stop, all of you.

That doesn't apply to kickass bands that are very much influenced by Maiden, and judging by their sophomore effort, Pharaoh are a band that know all about bringing the boot to the backside. So what do they mean by releasing an album that's title basically suggests that you GTFO? Not sure, really.

What I do know is that this won't have much trouble going down with all you fans of powerprog or just straight up heavy metal. When it opens up with Speak to Me, you could get a teensy bit worried at the modern metal overtones, but soon enough, there are twin guitars laying down harmonised lines, dynamic tempo shifts and it happily hits you in the gut like good rock should.

The skill of the members involved here is never called into question. Matt Johnsen pulls of the impressive feat of forming a rousing one-man guitar duo, laying down harmonised riffs, great fluid solos and backing all the lines tremendously well. Tim Aymar sounds a bit like an unhinged Dickinson, and when he goes for the high notes, it's like his lungs are fit to burst, what with the energy being employed. Now that's how metal vocals ought to sound.

Complaints about the production being too clean are justified, however. This most noticeably affects the drum sound - the kick drum barely makes a 'tick' - and the guitars, if there's any staccato riffing happening, like on Dark New Life. Come on guys, for an oldschool serving like this, you really need to keep it a bit muddy.

Then there's also the fact that the songwriting is a little more straight-laced and timid than it was on The Longest Night. When they hit their stride with songs like Red Honor and Rats and Rope, it makes for tremendous listening, but some of the others do get a bit watered down at times. This is especially evident with the last three songs, including the title track - seems like the album ran out of steam, and they hitched a ride on the Pony Express instead. Except it turned out that it was a mule...who had to stop every five minutes to take a breather. Pack enough gas for the whole trip, you fellows!

Still, the album's got way more good points than bad, so no point nitpicking too much. Cruz Del Sur have another winner.

Label: Cruz Del Sur

Year of release: 2008