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Here we have yet another band that kicked around in the '80s with a couple of demos and one EP but never made it out of the decade. Like so many other bands, the resurgence of metal in the new millennium finally made it to Portland, Oregon's Glacier and, with original vocalist Michael Podrybau and a cadre of new musicians, they've released the stunning The Passing of Time album. Podrybau sounds as though his vocal cords were frozen in time for 30 years and if anything, they've aged like a fine wine. He's just as just as powerful and has a better tone today than he did on their EP. Musically, The Passing of Time is pure US metal, nothing progressive, nothing hard rock, just pounding drums, landslide riffs and soaring vocals. A couple of tracks date back to the '80s ("Sands of Time", "Live for the Whip") but most were written for the album but you'd never be able to tell as every single one is gloriously old school (except for the modern production). "Eldest and Truest", "Ride Out" and "Into the Night", which has some of the wickedest guitar tone I've heard in a long time, kick ass but Glacier hit their stride of combining heaviness and catchiness on "Infidel." This is the one that I can't claw out of my brain with its twin-guitar harmonies and memorable vocal hooks and background vocals.

The Passing of Time is a must for all fans of true metal, especially the early US style, the likes of which was pioneered by Savatage, Metal Church, Savage Grace, Liege Lord and all the great pre-subgenre bands.