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This Italian band has existed off and on since the early '80s and has now hooked up with Gates of Hell Records for their second full-length album, Metal Shock. Musically, this is no frills hard rock/heavy metal that reminds me of a lot of stuff from when metal was first breaking into the mainstream. The songs are mainly fist-pumpers with the kind of solid riffs and snappy drumming perfect for a Saturday night party. The lyrics are in Italian which presents a bit of a challenge to non-speakers in terms of latching on to the choruses but that's only a minor hurdle (it never hurt bands like Loudness). The lead work is excellent throughout Metal Shock, one of the album's strongest attributes. It isn't the heaviest stuff you're going to find but the mix of proto-metal and bluesy hard rock you get from Tir should be right up the alley of those that still have a soft spot for early '80s music like Bullet (Germany), Boss and Krokus, among others.