| Musical Style: Heavy Metal | Produced By: Darrin Kirkindoll |
| Record Label: Roxx Records | Country Of Origin: USA |
| Year Released: 2026 | Artist Website: |
| Tracks: 7 | Rating: 85% |
| Running Time: 28:53 |
For 2026, Traxter gets a fresh new sound with the March release to its Roxx Records 7-song sophomore EP Take Heed. The groups traces to Bakersfield, California where it came together in 1987 ahead of releasing four years later its independent full length debut Rock N’ Race, which received a much deserved reissue in May of 2019 also via Roxx. According to the 80% Angelic Warlord review, I anticipated Rock N’ Race to be ‘yet another in what amounts a long line of pop to glam to hair to melodic metal and hard rock albums to have come from the era’. Whereas ‘such musical leanings influence the Traxter sound’, go beneath the surface and the group ‘imbues its songwriting with some unexpected but decided progressive undercurrents’. Consider, for instance, manner in which Traxter ‘extends nearly half the Rock N’ Race material into six to seven minute territory with the technical and intricate underpinnings to match’. Those that describe the album as a ‘blend of Rush and Guns N’ Roses’ have the right idea!
With Take Heed, however, Traxter reinvents itself in taking a veering I identify with as heavier traditional and classic metal as opposed to the melodic metal and hard rock to Rock N’ Race. Gone at the same time are much of the previous progressive nuances in that the group truncates the Take Heed songwriting into a standard four to five minute range. Also reinventing himself is guitarist and front man Terrance Steven Fischer, whom transitions from the gritty but capable of a soaring high note style he exhibited on Rock N’ Race to a gruff and course lower register form that has more in common with Udo Dirkschneider (Accept) as opposed to Jamie Rowe (Guardian) and Larry Worley (Fear Not). Rounding out the Take Heed lineup is original Rock N’ Race members in guitarist Leonard Bennett, bassist Robert Allison (aka Bobby Del Rey) and drummer Lee Kirkindoll.
Take Heed encompasses material Traxter had in development back in the day but broke up before it could record any potential follow up release. Opener “Can’t Run, Can’t Hide” is one of the finer such tracks, a pile driving three and half minutes of unfaltering riffs and tireless hooks intertwined with Kirkindoll’s bounteous drum rolls and fills. Saint and Armageddon are first names that come to mind in terms of comparison.
Likewise, mid-tempo despoiler “Power Will Be” with gruff borderline spoken word vocals and shouted backing vocals that lend an acerbic feel- refrain is fittingly sharp and curtly woven. Song also lightly hearkens back to the Traxter progressive roots, realized in manifold instrumental moments, including Allison’s killer bass solo a minute and half in and later scathing lead guitar run of an early Saint inspired (think John Mahan) form. Lyric snippet:
Deceiving and leaving and never turning back
Blind to the future and their futile attacks
Don’t they see the time and the end of crime
When the hammer will come down
And they fear the sound
The might tell you what to see
But not control the ‘be’
And the power to come is the sound of God
There is no chance for government romance
The mid-tempo slanting carries over to “Game Of Life”. What we have is a ruthless galloper, launching from the start to the astringent bass and thick-skinned guitar triggering its span, the firing momentum only stalling halfway in for a shorter spoken word passage- I cannot say enough good things about how the new grisly vocal approach builds upon the heavier Traxter sound. Any potential repetitious element ends up circumvented by the understated in a power sense as opposed to commercial hooks.
Three songs in and it deserves note the excellent production, particularly the solid as it gets low-end- this is how metal drums are supposed to sound! In similar fashion, guitar leads receive a clean mix, while rhythm guitar projects equal authority and muscle.
After three opening slower tracks, “The Captain” ups tempo with a high energy entwining. With brisk impetus punching ahead, song resonates a darker power metal form as vocals reach for cavernous depths and harmonies touch upon a menacing if not desolate allure. A smoother aspect realizes in the pitch perfect guitar melodies to open the intricate instrumental run closing the final two and half minutes with added razor like leads and bass finishing things off. Lyric snippet:
When your war is hard, you need to have that person
The person who willed this world in His hands
As the battle rages on that fiery front
You need the Captain
Peace in your soul, everlasting love
Jesus, my Captain, will forever make you whole
The time is now, don’t you see He’s how
To win the battle, you need the Captain
“Cold In Hell” tempers with its melodic metal groove. Song introduces ample doses of bluesy fortitude, I detect a laid back if not barbed swagger akin to Die Happy, but within a slick contexture, the chanted backing vocals and reticent bass allow an abutting edge. Tying each side of the fence together is the indignant guitar distortion.
“Freedom (Prelude)”, a minute and half voice over montage featuring Ronald Reagan, FDR and Martin Luther King, leads the way to “Freedom”. With drum solo to start, song hurls forward to a gravelly mentality that speaks more of hard rock as opposed to metal with thrust slower to mid-paced and hooks subdued but conspicuous all the same. Traxter again rears its head instrumentally, as a fibrous bass line gives way to a protracted stretch of intricately woven guitar harmonies. Lyrics snippet:
Do you see with your lying hand?
When the deceptions are soon by us
To the nation of red, white, and blue
The theories are lighter than us
The war on to freedom must be
Shed the old, let the new shine through
For the soul of all humanity
Stand up and do all you can so
Take Heed represents one of the finer EPs I have heard in twenty years of administering Angelic Warlord. Rightly so in light of manner in which songwriting takes to the next level - each of the six full length tracks is solid as it gets - and how Traxter introduces a newfound traditional heavy metal basis as opposed to melodic metal and hard rock. In similar vein, vocals reach down low with abundant guttural soul to align with the aggressive sounds to command. I could say I wish the group recorded a couple additional songs to approach full-length territory, but as a total package, Take Heed is solid as it gets far as EPs are concerned. If a fan of traditional and classic heavy metal, you can do no wrong with Take Heed.
Review by Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing: “Cant Run, Can’t Hide” (3:41), “Power Will Be” (4:21), “Game Of Life” (4:46), “The Captain” (4:59), “Cold In Hell” (5:08), “Freedom (Prelude)” (1:20), “Freedom” (4:37)
Musicians
Terrance Steven Fischer - Lead Vocals & Guitars
Leonard Bennett - Guitars
Bobby Allison - Bass
Darrin Lee Kirkindoll - Drummer
