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Saboter has been around for just two years, having released a self-titled EP in 2015, and Mankind Is Damned is their debut album. These guys hail from Athens, Greece, and play an 80s-worship style of Heavy Metal, borrowing elements from the US-Power Metal scene, especially Jag Panzer. In fact, vocalist Antonis Vailas has a remarkable resemblance to Harry Conklin pitch-wise, and ranges from a low-key approach to high screams with ease. Mostly riff-driven, the songs are quite a journey to the golden era of Heavy Metal; I give special attention to "Assassins" and "Impaler" in terms of songwriting and overall construction, which are dynamic and powerful. The latter, for instance, has cool pace changes and competent displays from drummer Vagelis Felonis. The classic lead/rhythm guitar duo works really well with the idea here, making it easy to digest the tunes and forging decent and memorable passages instrumentally wise.

The album has some issues, though, regarding the production – which is a little bit flat – and some performances by the members. While, like I said, Antonis Vailas has a good pitch and at times reminded me of Harry Conklin, he often tries to reach notes that either don't match with the instrumental bit or end up hurting the final product a little. Regarding the production, the band needs to twitch and fix some minor mixing misleads, but nothing too worrying.

From cadenced to faster songs, these dudes are on the right track to featuring in the great halls of the underground NWOTHM movement. With a few corrections here and there – which comes naturally over time – Saboter will surely reach maturity and provide us with killer tunes in the future. Strong debut for yet another Greek band that overflows with quality.