Reviews roundup – Saxon vs. Bullet vs. Hannah Wicklund vs. The Overalls vs. Redshift vs. Legion vs. Mozes & The Firstborn
SAXON
The Eagle Has Landed 40 Live
Militia Guard
“Released to mark the band’s 40th anniversary” says the promo bumph. Which isn’t true. It’s 40 years since their debut album but why let facts get in the way of a marketing opportunity.
What you’re getting are 40 live tracks from an assortment of shows between 2007 and 2018. Now bear in mind that they’ve had three proper live albums in that period with the last one out in 2016 and you have to wonder as to the quality of the material here. And it a mixed bunch. The first disc doesn’t have much you’ll want to return to although the version of ‘Attila The Hun’ is a treat. Over on disc 2 there’s a hoard from Wacken 2014 but if you’ve seen that on YouTube you’ll know that Biff was struggling a bit.
Which leaves us disc 3. The most recent of the material (the discs are in chronological order) and the best of the bunch. The 2018 songs are really good with ‘Sons Of Odin’, ‘This Town Rocks’ and ‘Nosferatu’ thoroughly enjoyable. That’s also where you’ll find Phil Campbell, Andy Sneap and the late Fast Eddie making guest appearances, the latter on a version of ‘Ace Of Spades’, which made me a bit teary as Saxon were the first metal band I ever saw when they opened for Motorhead on the Bomber tour. Christ, I’m old.
It’s not an essential purchase although Saxon fans will certainly enjoy a lot of what is here. Me, I’m just glad they’re still here dishing out their brand of heavy metal thunder.*
*not included
BULLET
Live
Steamhammer / SPV
HEAVY METAL! HEAVY METAL!! HEAVY METAL!!! That’s the three strands to the music of Swedish HEAVY METAL band Bullet. Something you’d probably gather if you give the opening number ‘Storm Of Blades’ a listen.
I’ve always had a soft spot for them but they are one of those bands who seem to struggle to capture their sound in a studio. In case you’re wondering that sound is early to mid eighties Priest / Accept. In other words, HEAVY METAL. They’ve got six studio albums under their belt (hah!) now so there’s plenty to choose from. Personally, I’d have went for a single live album rather than the double but I’m all about quality over quantity.
Plus they’ve really only got 45 minutes of great material which means there is a bit of a sag in the middle. But when they’re at their crushing best – ‘Riding High’, ‘Turn It Up Loud’, ‘Bang Your Head’ and ‘Bite the Bullet’ – then it’s absolutely brilliant. I never need to hear ‘Rambling Man’ or ‘Hammer Down’ ever again but that’s why God invented the skip button. The guitars of Hampus Klang and Alexander Lyrbo do their full on Tipton/Downing thing while Hell Hofer screeches like Udo on helium. Did I mention this was HEAVY METAL?
It sounds really good as well so props to the mixing desk guys who were on duty on the three gigs mixed up here. They’re always a band who should be better known so if you like your METAL HEAVY then give this a go.
HANNAH WICKLUND & The Steppin’ Stones
Hannah Wicklund & The Steppin’ Stones
Strawberry Moon
This has been out for about 18 months now so it’s a very, very belated UK release(?) for the third album from Hannah Wickland. We do have the internet, you know.
And it’s a bit of a hmm. She (and they) are being touted as another great seventies throwback band to the days of classic rock. But there is very little, great, classic or rock about this. Hats off to Ms Wicklund, though, as she does have a really good voice. But the songs are very hit and miss, with the majority falling into the latter category.
It’s all very one paced as well, after a deceptive opening, and there were moments when I had to check whether I’d arrived in a new song or just missed a transition. There is some good stuff here with ‘Looking Glass’ boasting a memorable melody. When things do toy with the world of rock then it comes as a welcome relief but even then a song like ‘Too Close To You’ stays firmly in the world of pop. Although as a lifelong fan of handclaps in music I’ll give that one a bye.
‘Meet You Again’ is the album highlight. Again it’s a slow paced tune but Ms Wicklund hits her vocal sweet spot and the music goes southern rock epic. There is certainly a market for this sort of thing but the album seems uncertain of what it wants to be.
THE OVERALLS
Soul
independent
To Austria for some modern alternative rock.
A truly terrible name for a band, The OverAlls have been on the go since 2007 and seem oddly popular in Brazil.
It’s fairly straight down the middle alternative rock, a term I still find amusing many years after alt-rock became the mainstream. Technically they’re a good band and even if it’s most definitely not my cup of tea I can certainly understand why people enjoy their music.
They usually remember that the melody is king and if you were to strip away the arrangements you would find some good tunes such as ‘Brand New Day’, ‘Last Lullaby’ and ‘Undisputed Ending’.
A good band doing their thing.
REDSHIFT
Cataclysm
independent
The brainchild of vocalist / bassist / keyboardist Liam Fear, Redshift make a fair fist of it in their bid for genre recognition.
Joined by drummer Jack Camp and guitarist Joshua Boniface they’ve certainly got the technical vibe spot on with the legally obligatory time signatures and widdly abandon. The guitar riffs are uniformly excellent and if my old ears don’t deceive me there is even a tinge of analogue synths here and there. Or a digital simulator. Whatever, it sounds good although a sturdier vocal wouldn’t go amiss.
There is a lot of metal to their prog and at times it seems they’re toying with djent with a few nods to the likes of After The Burial and Tesseract. But that’s what the “kids” like so fair play to them. As they work their way through the best numbers you have to admire their quest for adventure. That would cover ‘Fire, Smoke and Thunder’ and the three part ,May Fate Rest Upon Us’.
For a first run out of the blocks Redshift have done a bang up job and if they can get this heard by the modern prog metal world they could do very well for themselves.
LEGION
Rising
Rock Company
What’s that? It’s Tuesday? Must be time for a Phil Vincent album. Indeed, yes, as he releases his 77th album of the year.
This time it sees the return of Legion with Vince O’Regan. I vaguely remember “Nemesis” a few years back and that were some great riffs powering the music along. Can I remember any of the songs? No. They were very mid-eighties melodic metal and were churning out an album a year at the time. One time Bob Catley guitarist has been touring in a Magnum tribute band of late (and not the one with the ex Magnum members) so maybe he felt the need to return to loftier plateaus.
So it’s been a while by their standards but this is actually better than I recall. There are plenty of strong choruses, some galloping guitar lines and an array of strong performances. Certainly tunes like ‘Nothin’ To Me’ will appeal to Priest fans of a certain age. ‘Lost Soul’ is another cracker and it is nice to hear O’Regan cranking out some great guitar work. Another chap who deserves to be better known.
It’s proper hard rock, the way it used to be, and if the world of rawk gets to hear ‘Full Moon Rising’ and their ilk then some long overdue props will be coming their way.
MOZES & THE FIRSTBORN
Dadcore
Burger Records
You’re from Holland so maybe pop grunge took a bit longer to arrive there but really?
In case you’re wondering, Holland, it was called the mid-nineties and it wisnae that great the first time around. But here come the dreadfully named Mozes & The Firstborn to remind us of the horrors.
They include ‘If I’ which adds feedback to the mix, some Soundgardeny moments – that would be ‘Sad Supermarket Song’ and lo-fi on ‘Fly Out I.’. It’s like someone took every bad musical idea they had, shoved it in a mixer and made a record out of it.
Amazingly, it’s their fourth release so either they’re from really, really large families or they are an awful lot of Dutch folk with less than zero taste.
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