Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 08:59 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: Heavy Metal/N.W.O.B.H.M.
Country: England
Label: Skol Records
Year: 2022
Desolation Angels should ring a bell for any N.W.O.B.H.M. fanatic as their early works ‘Valhalla / Boadicea’ 45 RPM 7” single in 1984 and their debut full length ‘Desolation Angels’ (1986) were amazing and are now considered to be legendary. Their sophomore studio album entitled ‘While The Flame Still Burns’ (1990) before disbanding in 1994 was also remarkable yet not so successful in terms of commercial accept. Reforming in 2012, the band released an EP ‘Sweeter The Meat’ (2014), their third album, ‘King’ (2018), and in 2022 after 4 years they finally released their fourth album ‘Burning Black’.Even from the artwork cover of the new album, that is like the little brother of their debut’s one; the colors, the concept…everything and I say it in a good way, you can see the return to their roots, as truth be told the band had moved into more Power Metal oriented music paths. But now the Londoners offer us a modern view on their classic Heavy Metal approaching. By using the term modern I’m talking mostly about the production that is crystal clear and clean. I like the old days’ dirt and raw sound, but I can understand why they have chosen a more contemporary production (producer Bart Gabriel has done another terrific work here indeed). After all the songs, the spirit, the guitars tone and the feeling of the old school /street affection and passion is here, 100%! If you want to describe how they sound then a mixture of Saxon from mid-90’s up to now with Maiden-esque melodies and you can be totally accurate. Featuring ten killer songs the British veterans return emphatically bringing the original N.W.O.B.H.M. sound to present time strong and solid. If you also considered in which circumstances the album was written and recorded, then you should think it twice to surpass it. For those who don’t remember then let me refresh your memory, as about a year ago, the Desolation Angels guitarist and founding member Robin Brancher claimed the rights to the band’s name and logos after what appeared to be a split from the band; Brancher accused that Desolation Angels’s other guitarist and founding member, Keith Sharp, intended to carry on the band using recordings the band made with Brancher under Grim Reaper vocalist Steve Grimmett‘s production guidance. Those recordings were to be released under the title ‘Burning Black’. Brancher announced new music from his version of Desolation Angels, but here we are with Keith Sharp’s version of the band. I guess that things will turn better for the guys in the future as Brancher has co-wrote some of the songs in the album so it would be fair for him to be a part of all this or something. Highlights: ‘Stand Your Ground’, ‘Hydra’, ‘Living A Lie’, the title track, ‘Eyes of the Assassin’ and Paul Taylor’s vocal lines that his name travels us back to Elixir and some fantastic memories he had offered us in the past…
