As the old saying goes, you have your entire life to make your first album and 18 months to make your second. Mustang embodies this philosophy to a T. Formed in India in 2015, these traditional metal torchbearers have been playing shows in their native country and sporadically uploading songs onto YouTube and Facebook for the better part of 8 years. Now, thanks to the good folks at Fighter Records, the time has come for this fired up quintet to strike with their debut assault, Beyond Raging Thunder.
Being that they’re a traditional metal band, you cynics out there must be asking, “Who do they sound more like? Priest or Maiden?” If I’m answering honestly, Priest. There’s even a cover of their 1988 classic, “Ram It Down”, and many of the musical and production tropes on here sound inspired by the album of the same name. It’s an interesting niche to tackle, to put it lightly, but I’ve seen and heard stranger things. It feels like the more time goes by, the more headbangers champion the oft forgotten mediator between Turbo (1986) and Painkiller (1990).
In the same breath, while there’s no shortage of Priest-isms on Thunder, I’d be doing Mustang a disservice if I simply dismissed them as a Priest clone. Many of the songs bear a pseudo-prog elegance and ambition reminiscent of Crimson Glory. The eardrum shattering range and power of vocalist Arijit Dutta recall those of the late Midnight. Couple this with lengthy suites and ultra-melodic guitar work and you’ve got a band of brothers hellbent on making their way into *ahem* “Valhallaaaaaaa!” Whether it be the cryptic prog of “Realm of Madness”, metallized AOR of “Electric Ecstasy”, or sci-fi infused pomp of “Voyager”, Mustang are determined to go down as more than another NWOTHM throwaway.
Amidst this musical adventurism are your usual displays of no frills, retro metal, guaranteed to get heads bangin’ and speakers crankin’. High velocity outbursts like “Cosmic Rage” and “Terror Striker” tow the line between power and speed, rife with the energy that fueled the likes of Agent Steel and Metal Church nearly 40 years ago. “Queen of the Red Light” rocks with attitude and swagger, coming off like the contractually obligated hard rock radio single record labels would make ’80s metal bands record in the good ol’ days. And the opening “Children of Thunder” might just be the strongest cut here, wasting no time establishing the Priest meets Crimson Glory formula Mustang hold near and dear to their metal hearts.
Like most debut outings, there is room for improvement. While Thunder has the ’80s atmosphere down pat, I do wish the mix was a bit louder and intense, to match the ferocity of the music of course. I also question its nearly hour long runtime. Some songs on here hit harder than others, no doubt. With that in mind, I guess the only thing for Mustang to brush up on is their self-editing skills. As far as musicianship and writing goes, they have both in spades. If the aforementioned opening phrase of this review proves to be true, I look forward to reviewing album #2 in early 2025!
7 out of 10
Label: Fighter Records
Genre: Heavy Metal
For fans of: Crimson Glory, Judas Priest, Metal Church