Last Updated on 11:47 AM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: N.W.O.B.H.M.
Country: England
Label:-
Year: 2016
In 2013 Satan released “Life Sentence” and practically kicked us in the arse. With a single release they made us move away from the internet and the track downloading and made us pay a visit to the local record shop in order to purchase actual albums. Diamond Head’s new release does exactly the same thing: it reminds us why we should invest in a record that it is really worth it. Their record came straight from nowhere. And it is really good. Especially compared to the weak release of 2007 “What’s In Your Head” that made us wonder about what did the band really have in its mind and why did it allow this record to be released. Good thing is that all these belong to the past (when did nine years pass so quickly?). N.W.O.B.H.M. is still here and we shouldn’t connect this piece of work with our love for retro and old – school sounds.
Eleven well written tracks that face valiantly the glory days of the band’s past. All the tracks are amazing. If I had to choose which tracks stand out from the lot, I’d probably majestically fail in doing so. Sad fact is (and a prophecy I hope it won’t become a reality) that “Bones”, “Shout at the Devil”, “Set My Soul on Fire”, “See You Rise”, “All The Reasons You Live”, “Wizards Sleeve” (Streets of Gold No2!!!), “Our Time Is Now”, “Speed”, “Blood on My Hands”, “Diamonds” and “Silence” – I meant it when I said that every track is awesome – will fade unnoticed and won’t excite the heavy metal heroes of the internet, who so eagerly try to prove every single day how cool they are by posting the same tracks from YouTube over and over again, breaking the limits of self – reference and self – egocentrism of the average music-related-social-media user.
Having as an ally Tatler’s amazing riffs and tight synthetic performance and Rasmus Bom Anderson’s unique (and in some moments hard rock) interpretations, the record is based and influenced but has nothing to be jealous of the band’s first two releases that once built Diamond Head’s legacy. All the record needed was a better cover artwork, as the one used would be a better fit for a compilation – best of record. If the production was intentionally raw and the album was promoted as “the lost recordings from 1981” then today’s metalheads would have dropped their jaws.
5/6