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I really enjoyed Space Vacation's 2014 album Cosmic Vanguard, finding it a refreshing little jolt of classic, NWOBHM-styled metal. This is their follow-up, and while I like a lot of the same things about it, it isn't getting me off like their last one.

This band is all about hooks and air-guitar riffs that get your head banging easily. They do have a tendency to get a bit too rock-ish and bouncy, as on the almost unbearable "See You Again", which sounds like a Doobie Brothers song. But for the most part they punch out hook-laden tunes like "Roll the Dice" and "Enemy" that rock hard with some killer riffage.

Overall, I don't think the songwriting is as good this time as it was last time. Some of it is a tendency to repeat things a bit too much, but really, that's more a problem with repeating things that are just not A-grade elements. When a hook or a chorus is gold, you can't get too much of it, but here things wear a bit. There's not a change of style here, or a drop-off in musicianship, but here the songs are not as good as the ones on their last album, they just. . . aren't. There are some real bright spots to be found here, but the album overall does not pack the punch it could have.