Dianno-era IRON MAIDEN should sue. Somehow, nu-NWOBHMetalers can make this retro thing work in their favor. Stolen sweeping melodies, galloping bass and GRIM REAPER-styled lyrics, Sweden’s ENFORCER offer plenty to love if this is the type of Metal that wets your whistle.

But that's not to say the music contained on their sophomore disc is a joke. In fact, it blows their debut away. Now a quintet, the added axe helps as much as the maturity. Unfortunately, vocalist Olaf Wickstrand still sounds like a nasally, prepubescent Geoff Tate and that is the only thing on "Diamonds" that takes a bit to get used to. Built on raw MAIDEN-isms with hints of HELLOWEEN power, MOTORHEAD bite and early QUEENSRYCHE scale, the opener "Midnight Vice" rips and rolls. The following "Roll The Dice" features some spectacular dueling melodies and solos from guitarists Joseph Tholl and Adam Zaars.

"High Rollers" keeps the pace up while the instrumental title starts out rather dazzling but unfortunately then fizzles out in to an ambient piece. The speedy "Live For The Night" steals the show and vocalist Wickstrand finally starts to gel before he shatters glass on the poppy-yet-pulsating "Nightmares". Actually, the only slightly soggy spots on the disc are the mid-paced "Katana" and "Running in Menace". The band struggles a bit there but when they fuse slower and faster moments together, they get an impressive creation like "Walk With Me".

"Diamonds" is no "Killers". But if ENFORCER was around in the last 70s/early 80s, Tholl and Zaars would have gotten a lot of attention for their 6-string hysterics and punky aesthetics. It is also key to note that if Tholl and Zaars weren't around, ENFORCER wouldn't be much to get excited about. It's the slick guitar slinging tactics that makes "Diamonds" the gem it is. So those that like a grand solos, molten melodies and galloping bass apply here. While a great disc, "Diamonds" is still too niche and novelty to really appeal to fans outside of NWOBHM. Even then, ENFORCER is still one to watch. The third disc might be their charm.