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Fatal Encounter is the fourth album from Sweden's Air Raid, one of that country's many traditional heavy metal flag bearers. If' you've heard any of their previous releases, especially the last one, 2017's Across the Line, Fatal Encounter is going to live up to your expectations, namely no frills, kick ass heavy metal that packs a ton of riffs and hooks into every track. I likened the last album to the sound of Q5's Steel the Light album with TNT's Ronni Le Tekrø on lead guitar and tracks like "Thunderblood" and "One on One" are in that mold. Sweet, harmonized guitars and clear, prototypical metal vocals knocking out catchy choruses make them instant foot tappers. There's even a quirky guitar instrumental, "Sinfonia," like Le Tekrø would play. This time around, Air Raid has added a bit more accessibility to their sound, notably the keyboards on "In Solitude" and others like "See the Light" and "Edge of a Dream" which have songwriting in a style like later Rainbow, though not as "radio-friendly." I have to say Fatal Encounter is neither as heavy nor as fast as previous efforts, but I still like it a lot, though it perhaps needed a little extra time to sink in. It is another solid addition to Air Raid's catalog and should slot easily into the collection of any fan of traditional metal.