The Finnish true heavy metalers Oz were created in the late 70’s, they were relatively successful in the middle of the golden era for heavy metal, the 80’s that is, and broke up in 1991 after 5 albums and one EP. So, in 2017, they come back with 11 original songs and drummer Mark Ruffneck as the only surviving original member. I was ready to listen to “Transition State” with a very positive mood because of their participation in legendary “Scandinavian Metal Attack” compilation and having owned previously some albums from this band. The first three songs sound sympathetic, although quite flat lacking inspiration. Waiting to listen to full-on metal songs from the eighties I felt disappointed. The track “Drag Me To Hell” is the really first good composition of the album. Then, the “oriental” “Whore Of Babylon” and “The Witch” are decent compositions, but the following tracks are very mediocre and nothing would stick to your memory. My opinion is that such efforts should be seen autonomously, but necessarily the past will be a serious measure of comparison, and OZ are short of inspiration today. I’m urgently going to listen to the “III Warning” to straighten’ up.
