Persian Risk - Once A King

Formed in 1979 Persian Risk were one of those ‘nearly’ bands, riding in on the crest of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal tsunami their original run lasted seven years before they split up. During that time they managed to release just one album, so when in 2012 the band reformed and released their second long playing record I for one was filled with excitement.

The original line-up of Persian Risk was not to last long, lead singer John Deverill left the band as early as 1980 to fellow NWOBHM luminaries Tygers of Pan-Tang. However his replacement, the more than capable Carl Sentance took up the baton and ran with it. I first saw them with Carl on lead vocals in 1983 just before lead guitarist and founding member Phil Campbell left to join the legendary Motorhead the band in which he still plays thirty years later. With the support slot on Motorhead’s tour of 1984 and several TV appearances you’d have thought Persian Risk would have gone from strength to strength however just two years after the Motorhead tour the band had split up.

All this is ancient history however; let’s bring it up to date, July 2013 to be exact and yours truly finds himself at Rock City in Nottingham, Metal Mansions Promotions have teamed up Persian Risk and Savage on a NWOBHM double header. What a great gig, two bands newly reformed a nostalgia trip for some in the audience for others brand new bands kicking out quality heavy metal. Whilst perusing the merchandise stand after the show I obtained my copy of Once A King and have been playing it none stop ever since. The album is performed by Carl Sentance (lead vocals) Tim Brown (drums) Chris Childs and Alex Meadows (bass) Howie G and Danny Wilson (lead guitar) and none other than Deep Purple’s keyboard player Don Airey.

With eleven tracks on the CD, seven new songs and brand new recordings of four old songs from back in the 80’s it sounds superb, it’s clear a lot of effort has been put into the production of this album. It all kicks off with Asylum a fast paced number which gets this disc off to a rollicking start. Track two is Riding High an old favourite from Persian Risk’s live set this song however never made it to record until now, well worth the wait, it’s a song that gallops along like a cavalry charge and is a classic NWOBHM number. It’s fair to say at this point that everything on this new album sounds reminiscent of the old band and the era in which they first emerged while managing to sound bang up to date. Songs like Soul Deceiver with it’s AC/DCesque riff is a catchy ‘classic’ rock number while the brilliant track nine Fist Of Fury reminds me of early 80’s Judas Priest with Carl’s vocals making a foray into Rob Halford territory, it’s my personal favourite song on Once A King, however Battlecry runs it a close second. If you’ve never heard of Persian Risk before or indeed never heard any of their songs you will be in for a treat listening to this CD it’s fresh with a familiar twist, there’s material on it which may remind you of bands like Rainbow, Dio era Sabbath and maybe even Magnum. A wave of nostalgia flows over me when track ten is playing, Women And Rock is an all-time classic Persian Risk song and takes me back three decades to the Queen’s Head at Riddings when I saw these guys play live for the first time, ahh we were so young and had all our own hair and the women really did rock, but I digress. Strange thing is when I had a chat with Carl Sentance at the rock city gig he seems not to have aged at all and his vocal gymnastics are still in gold medal position a veritable Peter Pan.

If you’re sick to death of listening to these so called metal bands who’s lead vocalists seem to think growling, barking and grunting out illegible lyrics is what heavy rock and metal is all about then I recommend you get yourself a copy of Persian Risk’s Once A King and play it on full volume you will not be disappointed I can assure you. GD

Check out Persian Risk at http://www.persianrisk.co.uk/Persian_Risk/Bio.html

Below: Carl Sentance from rock city Nottingham...

Below: Carl Sentance & GD Manofmetal @ rock city Nottingham...

Demon - Unbroken

Released in 2012 Unbroken is demon’s twelfth studio album and in my opinion their best since the 1982 release of  their seminal LP The Unexpected Guest which features the legendary NWOBHM track Don’t Break The Circle. Part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene in the early 1980’s, Demon later traded on a more progressive style of rock music in the mid and late 80’s. Hailing from Leek in Staffordshire the band originally formed in 1979 by lead singer Dave Hill and lead guitarist Mal Spooner they disbanded in 1992. Returning to the fray in 2001 with their tenth album Spaced Out Monkey, Demon have continued to play European festivals ever since but tend to limit their UK appearances to a handful of gigs a year.

I usually manage to get to see them once a year, and recently caught up with them at the winking man pub on the outskirts of Leek, actually it’s situated in the middle of a moor on the Pennines. A bit of a surreal setting but never the less an enthusiastic crowd of diehard fans were in attendance to witness yet another evergreen performance by the Demonic sextet.

Unbroken boasts ten brand new songs that have transcended Demon’s years of ‘progressive’ rock, it sounds like it could easily have been released a year after The Unexpected Guest album. It all kicks off with an intro setting the mood to Prey, a song about hunting and being hunted; running with the wolf, flying with the birds it has a powerful heavy beat and sets this album’s towel firmly on the rocky beach of the Costa del Metal.

Track two is very reminiscent of early Demon, Shine a Light seems to be leading a path to a revelation and maybe it sums up Unbroken, a new way of thinking, certainly for this batch of songs at any rate.

The title track of Unbroken is another fast paced number; it’s about sticking to your guns and no matter how much time passes you by, never give up on your dreams. Demon front man Dave Hill, the only current band member to have been there at the start of it all has, it’s fair to say a few years experience under his belt and has witnessed many ups and downs over the decades, well it’s all in the lyrics of Unbroken.

Wings of Steel slows the pace down a bit; it’s a beautiful, poignant song, written from the heart, peace on earth, if only.

Track five picks up the pace again, Fill Your Head With Rock does what it sez on the tin. It’s a rock anthem, all for one and one for all, “a world of classic rock, what a place to be”. If this song doesn’t stir your bones then you have no business listening to guitar based rock music, go and listen to Northern soul or summat equally shite.

The current line-up of Demon is, the afore mentioned Dave Hill (vocals) Paul Hume (guitars) Dave Cotterill (guitars) Ray Walmsley (bass) Neil Ogden (drums) and the newest member of the band Karl Waye(Keys) See photo below...

Onto track six, Take Me to Your Leader has an awesome drum beat to it and a recurring theme for Demon, that of alien invasion Sci-Fi etc. It’s a moody song heavily influenced by the film ‘the day the earth stood still’ I shouldn’t wonder.

Private Lives is an expose on the celebrity world of the paparazzi, and with all the phone hacking scandal that’s been in the news lately it’s easy to see where the subject of this song comes from. With the limited amount of gigs Demon play these days it does make me wonder how many of these songs on Unbroken will ever get played live, with such a huge back catalogue of ‘classic’ songs that they’re obliged to play, songs like Private Lives will probably have no life beyond this disc which is a shame as it’s a perfectly good song but perhaps not sexy enough to get a live outing.

The exact same can be said of the next track, We Can Make It is a ‘gentler’ number, subtler than most of Unbroken. It’s a melancholic song about making it if we all try, and we can you know!

What About The Night is the penultimate track of the album and is most certainly a ‘classic rock’ song, loads of backing vocal harmonies great emotive guitar work it’s a love song with added ‘Demon’ edginess.

The gig at the winking man on May 4^th was in fact a warm-up for Demon, a week before they are due to play with the likes of Uriah Heep at the Metalitalia festival in Milan and with only one more gig booked so far in 2013, at the railway Bolton on May 31^st it’s a busy month for the Demon boys, let’s hope they get back on the road again soon, maybe a British festival is on the cards but we will have to wait and see about that.

Well that’s about it, just time to mention the final song (I can’t remember when forty six minutes and thirty eight seconds have elapsed so quickly). I Still Believe is the ‘hairs standing up on the back of your neck’ song on Unbroken; it brings a lump to my throat every time I hear it. Written by Dave Hill and Neil Ogden this song will become a ‘classic’ there is no doubt. For someone (Hill) who’s knocked around the music business for as many years as he has (he owns a bus pass you know) to still believe that rock will rule the world can give everyone of us hope for the future and not just in the world of music. Demon should be taking the world by storm with this new album but maybe they need to change their name to Metallica to achieve that... GD

You can buy copies of Unbroken and indeed all the back catalogue of Demon albums via their website http://the-demon.com/

Saxon - Sacrifice

Sacrifice is the twentieth studio album by the evergreen British heavy metal band Saxon. Thirty odd years ago Saxon were the front runners in the NWOBHM genre releasing their fist album in 1979 the then Yorkshire based band have since gone on to achieve massive acclaim worldwide.

On average these days Saxon manage an album every three years and have hit a winning formula, I recon pretty much all their songs fit into three categories, ‘historical’, ‘social’ and ‘industrial’ and Sacrifice is no exception to that rule.

It all opens up with Procession an intro to the title track, Procession evokes images of a steaming Central American jungle with ziggurats and pyramids busting forth from the foliage with maybe a monkey or two chattering away in the leafy canopy. Suddenly we’re into track two (track one proper); Sacrifice falls into the ‘historical’ category it’s all about human sacrifice at the hands of some Mayan or Aztec priest. Musically it kicks on at a fair lick with some of the heaviest guitar sounds of the whole album. Track five is another of the historical songs opening with some ‘Chinese’ jingly chimes Guardians of the Tomb is another song with heavy riffs and a frantic pace to it, the lyrics relate the story of the Chinese emperor who made the terracotta army, basically play this song over the trailer for ‘The Mummy – Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’ and you’ll get the idea. Track eight is probably my favourite song of the whole album, Night of the Wolf has overtones of Frozen Rainbow the best song on Saxon’s first ever album, with lyrics like ‘far beyond the forest in a land of ice and snow’ you can make that connection yourself, it conjures up images of a long ago Transylvania populated by wolf packs, vampires and crammed full of sizzling gypsies. The song has great atmosphere as well as some cracking lead guitar breaks and a stupendous double kick drum beat.

Moving onto the ‘social’ category of songs and track four loosely fits in there, like Motorcycle Man the opening track from their 1980 seminal album Wheels of Steel, Warriors of the Road begins with screaming engines roaring around a track but this time they’re formula one cars not motorcycles. It’s a fast paced song, most of them are on Sacrifice, at one point a clip of racing commentary fades in telling us Ayrton Senna is coming to the track, it’s just a shame the commentator isn’t the legendary Murray ‘what am I saying’ Walker, oh well you can’t have everything can you? Track six is Stand up and Fight and most definitely fit’s into the ‘social’ category, this song is a blueprint of what Saxon songs are all about, sticking it to the man, standing up for what you believe in, rock and roll, backs to the wall, keeping the faith etc etc, and it bloody well does you good to hear it as well. I would recommend a dose of Stand up and Fight to be taken at least four times a day. The final track of the album seems like it should be the penultimate track, Standing in a Queue leaves this listener wanting another song, on Saxon’s last album, Call to Arms they finish with an orchestrated version of the title track, perhaps the reason why they haven’t done that this time round is because the ‘deluxe digipack’ version of Sacrifice has a bonus CD with acoustic and orchestrated versions of old songs. Anyway Standing in a Queue is a ploddy song about a subject we all understand, not one day goes by without everyone of us ending up wasting our time queuing for something or other, this song relates that and some, it rubs it in so far I feel like I’m still standing in that damned line, sadly this is the weakest song of the album and not a great one to end on sooooo…

It’s a good job I saved the ‘industrial’ songs till last init? Track three opens up with some nifty mandolin strumming to set the locale of the song, Made in Belfast is all about the leviathan’s of metal that were and still are fabricated in the Belfast docks. The brotherhood of welders, platers, chippies and sparkies that produced some of the most iconic ships the world has ever seen, there and I never mentioned the titanic once (doh!). Track seven is Walking the Steel another song that works hard but never labours it transports us to the city of New York and the construction of skyscrapers. Not just any old skyscrapers I might add this one is ‘rising from the ashes, for all the world to see’ resurrecting the twin towers to touch the sky, this song will evoke many emotions in the western world and if someday they do rebuild on NY’s ground zero the guy’s who ‘walk the steel’ of that construct will give us all hope for the future. The real penultimate song on Sacrifice is Wheels of Terror ‘Industrial’ in many respects it’s a graphic account of what happens if you get in the way of a division of battle tanks ‘wheels of terror crushing all before’ you really get a feel of the power of this song, lead singer Biff sounds like he’s relishing every word.

These days Saxon’s line-up is Biff Byford (lead vocals) Paul Quinn (lead guitar) Doug Scarratt (lead guitar) Nibbs Carter (bass) and Nigel Glockler (drums) a line-up that’s been stable since 2005 when Glockler rejoined the band after being absent from the line-up for several years. They will be touring all over the world during 2013 to promote the new album; the thing about Saxon is they’re rarely off tour these days playing high profile festivals like Waken, Download and the Monsters of Rock Cruise of the Caribbean as well as their own headlining shows.

The deluxe digipack of Sacrifice is not only packed with slick glossy art work printed alongside the lyrics to the songs but it also contains a five track bonus CD. Five specially recorded versions of songs from Saxon’s back catalogue, track one is an orchestrated version of Crusader, the title track from the bands 1984 sixth album. I was looking forward to this version and it didn’t let me down, it’s an evocative song that loses nothing but gains plenty from this treatment. Track two of the bonus disc is also from the Crusader album, Just Let Me Rock, on here it’s a re recorded version and is not too dissimilar to the original but it’s interesting to hear it again almost thirty years after it’s original recording. The other re recording is track five, Forever Free is the title track of the bands 1992 eleventh album and not one of my favourites however this version of the song is worthy of inclusion on the bonus disc and it’s good to here a Saxon song I don’t listen to very often. The two remaining songs are acoustic versions of Requiem and Frozen Rainbow, the latter song from Saxon’s debut album way back in 79’ is one of my all-time favourite Saxon songs, hang on a minute let’s say that again, it’s one of my all-time favourite songs, period. A haunting song that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time I hear it, this is an interesting recording, not as good as the original but then again I’m not over keen on acoustic versions of songs, however this is still an accomplished piece of work, brilliantly done. Requiem is from 1991’s Solid Ball of Rock one of the all-time best Saxon albums and this version of the song is probably better than the original, another ‘standing on end’ hair moment for me and lyrically very poignant now we’re losing more and more of our rock heroes as the clock keeps on ticking. Saxon’s twentieth studio album doesn’t disappoint, not many bands, if any, can boast that amount of work and manage to keep up the quality of writing that is on Sacrifice… GD.

Sacrifice is out now and can be purchased at all good record stores or on line from the official Saxon website http://www.saxon747.com/en/index.php/shop

 

New Generation Superstars - Rock N Roll Or Die

The long awaited third album from east midlands rockers New Generation Superstars ‘Rock N Roll Or Die’ on Underdog Records Ltd is provisionally due to be released on free download from 11^th March 2013 via itunes and reverbnation. Thereafter it will be available to buy from 1^st May in an exclusive ‘Bastardz Division’ fanpack.

The Leicester based band will also be undertaking an extensive UK tour from 7^th March 2013 to promote the album taking in all points of the compass and they’ll also be supporting American rock legends Love/Hate in Rugby on 6^th April.

The twelve track ‘Rock N Roll Or Die’ is the much anticipated follow up to ‘Crash Course In Rock N Roll’ (2007) and ‘Raising The Stakes’ (2009) New Gen’s previous two albums and the first album with the current line-up of AJ (guitars/vox) Davey Messiah (lead guitars/backing vox) Rik Jaimz (bass/backing vox) and Lexxie Kaine (drums).

Track one, the titular ‘Rock N Roll Or Die’ is already a favourite song of the fans, having been introduced into the live set a good while back now and gets underway after a minute long intro of twiddley radio signals and the strains of an air raid siren, thankfully when it is in full flow this anthemic number delivers the prelude to the whole dozen songs on the album, fast paced, easy to follow ‘sing along’ lyrics, punchy drum beat and guitar riffs it’s easy to see why it’s a fan favourite and the record version maintains the intensity of the live performance.

Next up is the charmingly titled song ‘Bastards’ another favourite that’s been in the live set a long time. A great song to sing along to, ‘rock and roll bastard! BASTARDS!’ sung with gusto by a sweaty crowd, you can’t beat it. This ‘record’ version however seems a little more subdued than when played live but never the less with lyrics like ‘heard it all before’ and ‘raising the steaks’ thrown into the mix makes this a trademark NGS number.

After two immensely strong and recognisable songs track three ‘Can’t Live Without Them’ is brand new to my ears which means it will be unfamiliar to everyone outside of NGS. It’s a bit of a curio running at only 2:47 and I hope I’m not doing it an injustice to say it’s a bit of an album filler.

Quickly moving on to track four ‘Black Heart’ is also a ‘newbie’ to me and seems more in the NGS canon than track three. Having said that ‘Black Heart’ is a brooding and moody classic rock song full of wailing Davey Messiah guitar licks that is not too typical of New Gen and it shows the bands willingness to experiment a bit with their style.

The next song ‘Life Of Crime’ is also a departure from the norm, never the less this song is more of a winner than the previous two songs giving AJ plenty to do vocally all in all a well crafted song.

It’s the halfway point of the album and we’re back on familiar ground, ‘Hell City’ is another live favourite, written about the bands experiences in Helsinki the Finnish capital that NGS have successfully played many times in the past.

Track seven is ‘Guess What’ and also belongs in the ‘live set’ category, another favourite of the crowd ‘Guess What’ always gets a reaction, I mean who wouldn’t want to punch the air and sing in response to AJ’s ‘guess what?’…. ‘GET FUCKED!’ I know I do.

‘My Life’ comes next it’s punk attitude appeals and lyrically is typical of what NGS are about. Whereas track nine, ‘The Price’ couldn’t be more different, this song is a heartfelt reflection of the drawbacks of being in a rock band. Track ten is more typical of NGS, ‘Rockstar’ is the antipathy of the previous song all about fast women and fast cars it’s also pact with trademark guitar licks from Davey and AJ, it picks up the tempo from track nine as well.

The penultimate track ‘Solid Gold (Let The Good Times Roll)’ is, dare I say one of the best songs on the album, if it isn’t in the live set then in needs inclusion. It showcases New Generation Superstars at their best and worth the price of this album on it’s own.

As a finale NGS have decided to finish on a ballad ‘Waste Of Time’ is reminiscent of ‘Save Me’ the ballad that is track twelve of ‘Raising The Stakes’, their previous album. Whether ‘Waste Of Time’ is as good a song I’ll leave that to the individual listener to decide but if nothing else it sets a trend for future NGS albums.

Summing up then ‘Rock N Roll Or Die’ is a bit of a curates egg of an album around half the songs are tried and trusted, typically NGS but rather than serve up a dozen similar tracks this album strays dramatically into uncharted territory for the East Midlands hard rockers. Whether any of the ‘new’ songs make it into the live set is questionable however ‘Solid Gold (L.T.G.T.R)’ is a revelation for me being the only song I haven’t heard before on this album that should be played live. Talking of live go online http://www.facebook.com/ForbiddenMP/events and checkout the upcoming tour dates, make sure you get to at least one show (more if you can) because New Generation Superstars are gonna rock n’ roll your socks off or die trying… GD.

Spill Sixteen – Let It All Hang Out

A little over a year ago, at the end of 2011 I was in Sheffield to see Tyketto, the scheduled support band that night had failed to show at the eleventh hour, this ended up to be a fortunate state of affairs as local band Spill Sixteen were last minute stand-ins. I say fortunate because until that night I’d never even heard of Spill sixteen, a year on and I’ve seen the five piece Sheffield based rock band a few times live and I’m now listening to their debut album ‘Let It All Hang Out’.

Track one ‘Doing It Tonight’ opens the twelve track disc and what a track, it’s old school, a mix of bad Co. and Blackfoot however Spill sixteen are not just a retro rock band, "South Yorkshire's answer to Black Stone Cherry"  is what MelodicRock.com said about them. There does seem to be a resurgence of this style of rock, Rival Son’s are making a big impact along those lines at this moment in time and I see no reason why Spill sixteen shouldn’t also benefit from this current trend. Track two is ‘On My Way’ a more upbeat song than track one with a melodic chorus whereas ‘Come With Me’ is a stomp along rock song which conjures visions of a strutting ‘Jageresque’ singer. Track four ‘So Cruel’ is a 47 second acoustic guitar instro (intro) to ‘Lovedrunk’ a melodic ballad which does have Black Stone Cherry overtones.

Spill Sixteen are Mewsy (Guitar) JJ (Guitar) Stevie (Vcals) Indy (Bass) and Dave (Drums) if you get to see this band play live (and you should) you will marvel at the sound they achieve on stage and you just might recognise lead guitarist Andrew ‘Mewsy’ Mewse, the former Silverjet guitarist is also a current member of Velvet Star, a busy man indeed. The sixth song on the album is ‘We Stand Alone’ it’s a rock anthem, one that Whitesnake would have been proud to have written. Track seven and eight ‘Damned’ and ‘All the Same’ are a bit more down and dirty giving front man Stevie a chance to be a bit raunchier with his vocals. ‘You Make Me Cry’ a heart felt ballad with piano a compliment is one to get your lighters waving to and track ten is ‘By You’ a rocky little number, clap along, shake your tambourine, join in with the ‘gospel like’ backing vocals, whichever floats your boat really. The penultimate song on the album is ‘Kick In The Face’ like most of the songs on this disc it runs at under four minutes, short and sweet. ‘One Way To Go’ is a fine song to bring Spill sixteen’s debut album to a conclusion, slide guitar, harmonica, tinkling piano, Hammond organ, sing along lyrics it has it all. Summing up this twelve track album is well worth £7 of any ones money and you can buy it on line @ http://www.facebook.com/spillsixteenmusic play it loud and ‘let it all hang out’… GD.

Grand Ultra - No Sympathy

Grand Ultra are a four piece hard rock band from the east midlands who have over the last few years been wowing audiences with their live performances. So by late 2012 an astonishing four years after their inception Grand Ultra have finally released their debut CD, the six track ‘No Sympathy’.

For the diehard fans who have followed them from the beginning this disc rewards them with six favourites from the live set, unlike most bands though Grand Ultra haven’t mucked about too much with the studio recordings which means this CD is totally recognisable to what you would hear at a live show, something not all bands manage to achieve. Track one the eponymous  ‘No Sympathy’ is a fine overture of what’s to come the song rattles along at pace and sets the scene for the other five tracks. Tracks two and three are my personal favourites of the disc, ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is’ is a great sing along song with punchy riffs where as ‘Get your Rocks Off’ is an anthemic number designed to get a live crowd up and rockin’. Grand Ultra are Stu Wildey (Bass) Gazz Evans (Drums) Justin Larner (Guitar) and Joe Hill (Vox) their overall sound is driven by Justin’s well crafter guitar riffs and Joe’s powerful ‘old school’ vocal gymnastics, he’s a bit like a latter-day Klaus Meine. Track four is ‘Guns At Dawn’ my least favourite track, followed by ‘Alone Tonight’ which is a lighter song that may well appeal more to the ladies. The finale to this disc is one of the bands most memorable songs, ‘Goodbye Angel’ is a favourite from the live set and with its sing-along chorus and punchy riffs is a fitting end to the CD. Grand Ultra never fail to entertain live and ‘No Sympathy’ is a fitting debut disc for the hard working quartet who thankfully haven’t strayed too far from their live sound on this mini LP. I would highly recommend you acquired a copy time you se them, let’s hope that the follow-up CD is in the pipeline… GD.