Reviews roundup – Wishbone Ash vs. Jeremy Spencer vs. Drawers vs. Cancerous Womb

Reviews roundup – Wishbone Ash vs. Jeremy Spencer vs. Drawers vs. Cancerous Womb

WISHBONE ASH
Blue Horizon
Solid Rockhouse

Right, just to clear this up, this is the Andy Powell Wishbone Ash, not the Martin Turner version, as the 2014 court case saw Mr Powell win his case to stop Mr Turner using the name Wishbone Ash.  Happy days.

So, the legal Wishbone Ash, which sees Mr Powell as the sole original member, are back with a new album, following on from the rather nice “Elegant Stealth”.  And as before, it sits well within the legacy of the band.  There’s no fancy new age nonsense here, even when the songs are written by the likes of Muddy Manninen,  Andy Powell’s son Aynsley, former guitarist Roger Filgate and Pat McManus.

The opening ‘Take It Back’ rather sensibly sounds exactly like classic Ash, right down the harmonies, and even if some of the tunes sray into generic seventies rock, the likes of ‘Way Down South’ and ‘American Century’ sound different enough, without being strangers.

It’s a good album, and one that should please those fans who feel slightly grubby after all the recent shenanigans.

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JEREMY SPENCER
Coventry Blue
Propelz

The return of one time Fletwood Mac man, Jeremy Spencer, with “Bend In The Road”, was an unexpected treat, and he hasn’t hung around for decades before following it up, as here comes the sequel, “Coventry Blue”.  Although quite why he has named his album after the 1987 cup winners is beyond me.  It should really have been called “Monkey Hangers Blue”, which is a far better title.

Anyway, this record is more of the same, to whit, country and acoustic blues.  He’s used the same musicians as on “Bend In The Road”, which means it really does seem more like a band sequel.  A lot of the songs have been put together from decades old fragments, so it’s very much in a seventies vibe, which pleases an old man like me.

The songs and performances are of a high standard, with ‘Got To Keep On Moving’, and ‘Send An Angel’ the highlights, with the latter a dead cert for a featured slot with Whispering Bob.  If you’re looking for the blues he started out with, then check out the title track, and if you want to hear a 1969 Mac vibe, then go for ‘The World In Her Heart’.

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DRAWERS
Drawers
Kaotoxin

I do wonder how they find me, sometimes.  Because what we have here is French sludge rock.  Yes, you read that right.  Now, my sole positive experience of French rock goes back over 30 years to Trust, so I didn’t head into this Mastodon influenced record with much hope.  But I was wrong.

Because if that is your thing, then this is right out of the top drawer.  For sure, they wear their influences on their sleeves, but they have enough nous to make the sound their own.  The guitars, in particular, are a real treat, so props to Alexander Berenguer and Laurent Bringer, especially as it seems the whole thing was recorded live.

Vocalist Niko Bastide isn’ the most distinctive, but when all the pieces come together as they do on ‘Mourning’ and ‘Bleak, then it’s a mighty impressive sound.  If their debut “All Is One” was as good as this, then their (rubbish) name is one to watch out for.

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CANCEROUS WOMB
Born Of A Cancerous Womb
Grindscene Records

Well, if you’re going to be a death metal band, you really ought to have a foul name.  And I’m glad to report that this might be the foulest yet, so a round of applause to my home town boys.

They’re very old school with a hint of thrash in amongst their DM, and fans of Deicide and their ilk will find themselves very much at home here.  It’s their debut album after an EP and a split release, but they’ve been honing their sound since 2007, so know how to growl and roar with the best of them.

Naturally, it’s a DM album, so I have no idea what they’re singing about, but with titles like ‘V I Paedophile’, ‘Up To My Nuts In Guts’ and ‘Austrian Basement’, I think it’s safe to say it’s not a world of fluffy bunnies.  And that’s before you get to the c-word song.

Now, this is the sort of thing that gets people up in arms, but as I never leave the house without some early Cannibal Corpse on my ipod, I’m in no position to complain.  The bass and drums are particularly vicious, with some bowel inducing moments of rumble.  Granted, the production isn’t the best you’ll ever hear, but then this is music in the raw.

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