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Three-piece Australian rockers Tracer mix musical styles including retro hard rock, thick stoner grooves and even a sprinkling of southern rock to create this impressive debut, and some comparisons that come to mind include Led Zeppelin, QOTSA and Velvet Revolver.

They bring together this blend of styles by specialising in big, hard rock riffs paired with powerful, catchy choruses and raw, gritty vocals, with a strong influence of blues throughout. Which is unsurprising, as Tracer formed from the ashes of blues band the Brown Brothers.

The toe-tapping, blues-drenched density of Louder Than This and the soulful Voice In The Rain showcase Tracer at their best, but there are plenty of memorable tracks on this album.

Having been together since 2004, Tracer developed many potential hits for their debut, and anyone with a penchant for contemporary hard rock should add this to their collection.

Hannah May Kilroy has been writing about music professionally for over a decade, covering everything from extreme metal to country. She was deputy editor at Prog magazine for over five years, and previously worked on the editorial teams at Terrorizer and Kerrang!. She currently works as the production editor for The Art Newspaper, and also writes for the Guardian, Classic Rock and Metal Hammer.