It can be a curse that your debut album is so strong that it is hard to exceed it. ‘Lightning To the Nations’ (1980) was such a strong release. Back then a lot of people thought that Diamond Head would be the next Led Zeppelin. Strong riffs, good songs and a great singer, Sean Harris. The next release was not bad either, but didn’t make it happen for the band. Their succes didn’t happen.
A lot of metal fans know the band from their song “Am I Evil”, covered by Metallica on the ‘Creeping Death’ EP. Also songs like “Helpless”, “The Prince” and “It’s Electric” were covered by Metallica. If you want to know the rest of this bands history, you better check it out yourself.
I think this is the best album since their debut, it sounds like the logical predecessor of that album. A kind of ‘Lightning To the Nations 2.0’, same style, modern sound. With Rasmus Bom Andersen they found a new vocalist that could be the younger brother of Sean Harris. He sounds a lot like him and the singing lines look a lot like the ones on the debut. Another great point is that Brian Tatler wrote strong songs with strong riffs. Sure, some riffs don’t sound new, but who cares. The songs have a lot of variety and sound really old school melodic hardrock/metal. Influences of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath or is it just Diamond Head can be found back on this album. With the song “Silence” the band wrote a track that has a lot in common with “Kashmir” of Led Zeppelin and that immediately makes it one of my favorites.
An unexpected strong come back of this band, if NWOBHM is your thing, check them out!
Tracklist:
01. Bones
02. Shout At the Devil
03. Set My Soul On Fire
04. See You Rise
05. All the Reasons You Live
06. Wizard Sleeve
07. Our Time Is Now
08. Speed
09. Blood On My Hands
10. Diamonds
11. Silence
Playing time: 48:00
Release date: 22 April 2016
Label: Dissonance Productions
Website: www.diamond-head.net
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