Reviews: Arjen Lucassen's Supersonic Revolution, Roadwolf, Thulcandra, Weapon (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Let's deal with those covers first and they're from the 70's sounds that are the crux of this album; T-Rex’s Children Of The Revolution, ZZ Top’s Heard It On The X, Earth Wind And Fire’s Fantasy and the most obscure being Roger Glover’s Love Is All are all given a go by Lucassen (bass) and his band consisting of keyboard player Joost van den Broek, guitarist Timo Somers, drummer Koen Herfst and singer Jaycee. They are not radically changed only given a rock make over, Children Of The Revolution was the basis of this project originally recorded for a tribute, the speed that was needed necessitated the quick formation of the band and they then spent a few weeks knocking out the covers and their own songs culminating in this record that pays homage to Jon Lord’s hammonds with the intro Sr Prelude. 

Before Glamattack is just that a 70’s glam track with some speed metal riffs, the use of organs particularly good as it makes much of the album sound like Montrose, the vocals of Jaycee a dead ringer for Sammy Hagar (he actually sings in Hagar-Era Van Halen tribute band in The Netherlands) with a similarity to Dio too. As it’s Arjen there’s prog here but not too much the inspiration of Deep Purple, Burn It Down, Arjen has admitted is Smoke On The Water written from the other side, organs and guitars in unison and Rainbow on Odyssey which is more progressive edging into Symphony X. 

They Took Us By Storm will remind listeners of The Universal Migrator and the smooth style of Holy Holy Ground takes the route of Whitesnake. Golden Age Of Music is Arjen Lucassen reliving his youth with his favourite bands, playing songs in their style, a cheerful record for fans of 70’s rock. 8/10

The Schenker-like riffs coming on the bluesy title track, which also has a bit of W.A.S.P to it. After only two songs it's a run through of the best bands from that late-70's early 80's as the gallops hit up on Mark Of The Devil, Scorpions come creeping on Supernatural while the driving hard rocking comes back on High Under Pressure which has a sax solo trading off with the guitar, you can just imagine Hagar and Ronny rocking out to this one. The tracks are all fist pumping heavy rockers that will get the blood pumping, filled with energy and enthusiasm. Midnight Lightning is a throwback for sure but a fun one as Roadwolf look to cement their place in the heavy metal scene with this second record. 8/10

Thulcandra - Hail The Abyss (Napalm Records)

Black/death is a style that takes a lot of skill to pull off especially when you bring in some strings and piano to make it sound more epic than other bands in the genre. Their fifth album in 20 years, Hail The Abyss picks up where the critically acclaimed A Dying Wish left off with ferociously heavy but still melodic death metal but with a dissonance of black metal. Not a hint of clean vocals on any of these 10 tracks it’s down to the music to conjure the atmosphere, as most of the record revolves around thrashy buzzsaw riffs and blastbeats, it’s the twin guitar harmonies, atmospheric synth passages and changes to the pace that reduce the listening fatigue of pure death metal. 

The production is deliberately old school, the drums for instance are quite raw, but it means that tracks such as the title track have that nastiness to snap a neck or two, while also employing some acoustics for tracks such as At Night that segues into the grinding mid-pace stomp of Velvet Damnation, the acoustics returning on the gothic refrain of Acheronian Night, a track that builds into something a little Celtic Frost, complete with the “ough”, they use the acoustics a lot actually with In Darkness We Descend, turnign into the final song The Final Closure. 20 years of making music and Thulcandra have managed to get down to fine art, Hail The Abyss as they take you through it in a flurry of blackened death metal. 7/10

Weapon - New Clear Power (Pride & Joy Music)

Is it still NWOBHM is there’s only one two Brits and the rest of the band are Swedish? Well at least Weapon are one of the original NWOBHM bands, having formed in 1980 and led to this day by singer Danny Hynes, like most NWOBHM bands there’s has been a tale of mismanagement, various line up changes, reformations and deaths. Signed initially to Virgin Music, they split, reforming in 2005 for a one off performance and in 2010 they began a run of three albums with Hynes and long-time guitarist Jeff Summers the two members who were steering the band forward. Due to the pandemic Summers quit leaving just Hynes as the sole member. 

In 2021 the rebuild began Robert Majd began writing with Hynes leading to the return to the NWOBHM sound (with a modern sheen), Majd calling in some favours from the Swedish metal scene to fill out the rest of the band, though long time bassist Tony Forsythe managed to record all the bass parts despite still receiving prostate cancer treatment. With members of Lionheart, Praying Mantis, Palace and Deathstars all joining in, New Clear Power is a record that leans heavily into the NWOBHM sound, choppy riffs, galloping rhythms with a bit of thrash too. Tracks such as Take It Or Leave It, the triumphal In For The Kill (not a Budgie cover) and Hard Road are great (this one’s a proper shred session). 

Though a ballad like Live For Today is not really needed but it’s well performed, the inclusion of Samson’s Riding With The Angels is a bit of treat. Weapon are a throwback musically but at least they have the history to back it up. In a world of bands inspired by the NWOBHM, Weapon were there the first time and are looking get the recognition 40 years later. 7/10