{"id":386431,"date":"2026-01-23T17:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T17:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/386431\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T17:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T17:09:08","slug":"battering-ram-time-masters-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/386431\/","title":{"rendered":"Battering Ram – Time Masters Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Occasionally, pet projects can take a very long time to gestate into something more serious and tangible. Spain\u2019s Battering Ram has had quite a long journey to get to their self-released debut album Time Masters, starting from their formation in 2008 and their demos in the early 2010s. Over this time period, their ambitions have also grown. Evolved from just another thrash metal band, Time Masters is a sci-fi concept album looking to fuse epic heavy and power metal with technical thrash metal. How successful is Battering Ram in their goal?<\/p>\n

Battering Ram\u2019s fun sound tends to lean more heavy\/power than thrash. The riffage of Guillermo Marqu\u00e9s definitely borrows a lot from all over, featuring plenty of variety from \u201990s German power metal to \u201980s heavy metal to both classic and progressive thrash (\u201cTime Masters (Gods of Soul Deliverance)\u201d). Many of the record\u2019s choices remind me of fellow one-time time travelers in Persistence of Time -era Anthrax. Considering the sci-fi theme, I\u2019d be surprised if some Gamma Ray or Iron Savior influence wasn\u2019t intentional too (\u201cThe Persecuted (Back Again)\u201d). The drumming of Benjam\u00edn Mateo is lively and energetic, complemented by some fat bass by Francisco Caba\u00f1as. Both of them shine best on the album\u2019s thrashiest moments (\u201cImmortality Fed by Death (Unstoppable Train)\u201d), but their performances are solid all around. The songwriting also switches things up plenty outside of just subgenre shenanigans. Straightforward tunes like \u201cThe Persecuted\u201d fall between more complex compositions, the 10-minute almost-opener \u201cUnexpected Events (The Beginning of the End)\u201d being a particularly bold choice that ends up panning out well.<\/p>\n

While the core ingredients are in place, Time Masters has issues with consistency, direction, and pacing. Take David Ord\u00e1s\u2019s vocals, for instance. His fun voice works well on occasion but is often at odds with the instrumentation, the epic and melodramatic feel (\u201cHoly Grail (Blood),\u201d \u201cThe Persecuted\u201d) suffering from a flat vocal delivery. However, Ord\u00e1s does improve on the thrashier back half of the record. As for album flow, one of the biggest question marks is the double interlude in \u201cThe Prophecy (Revelations)\u201d and \u201cArmageddon Wars (Ragnar\u00f6k)\u201d towards the end. The tracks themselves aren\u2019t without ideas, but they are oddly constructed and interrupt the flow between the album\u2019s three strongest tracks. Replacing this whole segment with bonus track \u201cWormhole (Dreaming Eutocia)\u201d could\u2019ve done wonders to make Time Masters a smoother ride, and the same thrash-coded half-instrumental would also give more air time to some of the best aspects of both its guitar and drum work.<\/p>\n

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Thrash and power metal both perform best at high velocity, and much of Time Masters\u2019 strong instrumentation lacks urgency. The guitars, drums, and bass all sound great and have great players behind them. The riffs have attitude and provide enough variety for the material, and the bass is often cranked loud while playing some really sweet lines. But throughout most of the first half of the album, I\u2019m left desiring a lot more breakneck speed and bite than there is. By the time the potent one-two punch of \u201cImmortality Fed by Death\u201d and \u201cTime Masters\u201d hits your ears, it\u2019s a little too late to salvage the average tempo. The production\u2014while not actively harmful\u2014is also a culprit in removing some Battering Ram\u2019s potential breaching power. But even though the pros don\u2019t outweigh the cons, the good things here are still very much visible. There are no absolute dealbreakers nor terminal issues, and, as mentioned, the very beginning plus the second half of Time Masters offers plenty of material worth checking out.<\/p>\n

Despite the album\u2019s drawbacks, there are plenty of neat pieces here Battering Ram can work with. Speeding things up, strengthening the vocals, and refining the songwriting would already make this a much more enjoyable ride. As is, Time Masters has some strong ideas within a very uneven package. Running a tighter ship and improving the production could turn the work presented on Time Masters from a rough but riffy proof of concept into a manic space adventure. I\u2019m eager to await further developments, for the world is in dire need of more power\/thrash. Speaking of, where the hell is new Paladin<\/a>?!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Rating: Mixed
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Self-Released
Websites: Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a> | YouTube<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: January 10th, 2026<\/p>\n

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