The album opens with an old school hard rocker “Lady Twilight,” which heads back into that original early 1980s metal territory that I liked so well on On Fire. The song flat out rocks, with a wailing guitar riff and a great chorus hook that gets stuck in your head. It reminds me of recent efforts from acts like White Wizzard and Holy Grail.

Though, I’ll admit that I don’t remember much about Nightlife, based solely on my review of it, it would seem that vocalist/bassist John E. Wooten’s chops have improved a bit over the years. I really like his approach here, and the songwriting also seems to have gotten better. He’s dropped the occasional screams in favor of a full-on traditional metal approach and it absolutely works.

Though “Lady Twilight” is probably my favorite track, there are plenty of good ones here. “In Dreams” opens with a classic clean guitar lick that puts me in mind of some of Judas Priest’s earliest work. It’s nice and tasty. There are some great vocal harmonies on the track and another catchy chorus. “Take Hold of the Night” picks up the pace of the record again, delivering an epic chorus with an infectious galloping heavy guitar riff underneath. It runs a close second as my favorite of the record.

“The Burning Ones” takes the band more into power metal territory, but the opening riff is great, and there are some very nice leads in the song by guitarist Chris Bennett. Those lead licks carry over into “Live Beyond,” which also features a big power riff. “I Scream for Ice Queen,” perhaps the heaviest number on Life’s Blood, bashes with thrash-like intensity in the early going, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t the cheesy sex song that I expected from the title. It’s actually a pretty tough, hard-driving and dark number.

There are certainly highlights on the record, notably the first three songs, but there really isn’t a bad tune from start to finish. Life’s Blood has everything you want from a traditional metal album – big guitar riffs, cool vocal harmonies and memorable melodies and hooks. Among the recent spurt of neo-traditional metal albums, it’s one of the few standouts that pays tribute to the roots of the music, but doesn’t try to mimic the classic artists. It’s good stuff, and I’m back on the Widow bandwagon.

With the 2007 version of Widow, the cheesiness is still there, but much of the fun is gone. There have been some lineup changes, most notably frontwoman Lili is gone, leaving guitarist John E. Wooten IV as the primary vocalist, with guitarist Chris Bennett offering up the screams. If you liked On Fire, you’ll miss her. The middle of the road male vocals on that record are the majority of this record, and for the most part they’re bland. The songs fare better when Bennett starts screaming, but occasionally he veers too far into a screamo style that’s an instant turn-off, at least for me. Granted, it’s tough to put any power in your vocals when you’re singing lyrics like “Teacher wants to see me after class/Always winks and shakes her ass/The teacher’s pet/I’m so good.” Sung with a little flair and fun, say the way David Lee Roth delivered “Hot for Teacher,” it could be pretty good. Sung the way Wooten sings it, not so much.

The covers here, Van Halen’s “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love” and Kiss’ “I Stole Your Love,” are hardly worth mentioning. Both are butcher jobs. They try to speed them up into power metal songs and add some screams, I guess to make them heavier, but most of us like the songs just fine the way they were. If all you can bring to the song is a faster drumbeat and a few screams, just play it straight.

The production is another issue. It sounds somewhat amateurish given the technology available. Being so obviously influenced by early 1980s metal from bands like Maiden and Priest, maybe they were going for that early Maiden feel. At times, though, the drums sound paper thin and hollow and some songs that are not bad suffer from the rough mix. The title track is a great example, with the vocals too far out front, giving it a really cheesy 80s sound.

The record’s not all bad, though. With a more in-your-face production, there are a few songs on here that could be pretty good. I really like “We Will Meet Again,” one of the heavier songs on the record. It reminds me of something off Into Eternity’s Dead or Dreaming. Musically, I like the riffing on “The Teacher’s Pet,” but I just can’t get past the lyrical challenges. “I’ll Make You a Star” reminds me of some of 3 Inches of Blood’s better stuff, and “At the End” has one of the better openings on the record. It’s one of the few songs where the low end really makes an impact.

Widow’s last record was a pleasant surprise for me, but Nightlife is a real disappointment. Though there are some bright spots, by and large it’s just a big mess. I think I’ll stick with Dream Evil for my cheesy fun.

I was happy to hear that vocalist Lili (no last names available, apparently no one in this band has one) isn’t one of those opera-style female vocalists that usually pop up on a power metal album. Going back to the ’80s influences, she reminds me a bit of Doro Pesch without the accent. In fact, there’s quite a bit about this band that reminds me of Warlock, particularly songs like “The Preacher’s Daughter.”

More often, though, the band echoes Iron Maiden musically. The lead guitar harmonies are ripped right from the early Maiden trick book, and Lili even occasionally throws in some Bruce Dickinson-like ohohooh chants. The male vocals add a touch of modern sound to the mix, with one of the male singers (not sure if it’s Cristof or John E., who are both credited with vocals) punctuating the songs with a black metal-style rasp. The clean male vocals I could live without. They’re passable, but not very interesting.

As a guy that came up listening to those classic bands in the 1980s, there’s a big nostalgia factor here. You’ve got to bob your head to the galloping riffing in “Re-Animate Her,” even if the pun in the title makes you want to cringe. As is usually the case for me, I prefer the more upbeat songs. The ballady parts of the songs seem plain, and in the case of “Not Alone,” weaken what could be a solid song. There’s a nice heavier bit where the rasping male vocals dominate that’s quite strong, but it takes a minute and a half of plain-Jane ballad to get there, and they return to the ballad. I’d much rather hear them ripping out speedy riffs like the opening of “Dead End.”

The band offers up a surprise toward the end of the album with “Family Affair,” a burner that almost veers over into melodic death metal in the early going, but ends up playing an awful lot like 3 Inches of Blood on the chorus with the clean melodic female vocals and the snarling backing vocals. And why shouldn’t this sound a bit like 3 Inches of Blood? If you like one, you’ll probably like the other. It’s the same sort of 1980s-fueled metal with just a few nods to the modern sound. Great stuff for cranking the stereo up as high is it will go and pumping your fist in the air. Pass me my spiked wristband.