Frontiers [Release date 17.05.24]
You’d be forgiven for thinking you’d stepped back in time to the late 70s/early 80s, as the first half of 2024 has seen new albums from the likes of Magnum, Saxon, Judas Priest, Praying Mantis, Tygers Of Pan Tang (albeit a live album) and now Demon. It has been eight years since Demon’s last release, the enjoyable ‘Cemetery Junction’, during which time former Saxon bassist Paul ‘Fasker’ Johnson has re-joined the band.
The demon behind Demon, Dave Hill, has found another good writing partner in drummer Neil Ogden, as Hill always seems to deliver the goods with a decent co-writer as he has in the past with Steve Watts and Mal Spooner (RIP).
The album artwork is a thing of beauty too. One you can lose yourself in whilst listening to the album.
After a Jon Lord-tastic Hammond-led instrumental opener ‘Intro’, the band hit hard with the catchy ‘In My Blood’. With all the band (bar keyboards player Karl Waye) adding backing vocals, they add a extra bit of magic to the songs. Speaking of magic, the keys of Karl Waye give the album’s sound that extra bit of depth, as do the SFX which can be heard throughout the album (the marching armies on the title track a prime example).
Dave Hill still sounds on top vocal form, be it on ‘Ghost From The Past’ – where he sounds at times like fellow Stoke legend Lemmy – or ‘Beyond The Darkside’ and ‘Rise Up’, both are foot-on-the-monitors hard rockers. Guitarists Dave Cotterill and Paul Hume provide plenty of riffs and sizzling solos throughout the album.
Lyrically Demon cover many of their usual subjects be it UFOs, the afterlife, the devil or horror films. The single ‘Face The Master’ is a horror based one (despite that intro reminding me of Hi-De-Hi!) and one for the band’s live set.
‘Hole In The Sky’ harks back to the band’s more prog rock moments, featuring all manner of keys and guitar effects. ‘Cradle To The Grave’ treads a similar progressive musical path, with a music box intro through to an ending with a nice bit of evil cackling from Mr Hill!
A ballad ‘Forever Seventeen’ closes the album with the album’s most personal lyrics and one many rockers of a certain can relate too.
Fame maybe fleeting, but class is permanent and Demon are back with another class album full of their trademark melodic hard rock. Those fans expecting another ‘Night of the Demon’ or ‘The Unexpected Guest’ may feel disappointed, but if like me, you’ve loved their albums from ‘The Plague’ through to ‘Hold On To The Dream’ and those released since 2001′s ‘Spaced Out Monkey’, you will be loving this album after a couple of spins. ****
Review by Jason Ritchie
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Power Plays w/c 10 June 2024
BASTION ROSE (Epictronic Records)
VOODOO RAMBLE Midnight Ride (indie)
BYWATER CALL As If (indie)
ESCAPE THE PARADIGM Cold (Curtain Call Records)
DEFENCES Gold In The Dark (indie)
BRAVE RIVAL Fairytale (indie)
MOJO ACES Old Crow (indie)
Featured Albums w/c 10 June 2024
09:00-12:00 NESTOR Teenage Rebel (Napalm Records)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023
14:00-16:00 MIRACLE MILE East Of Ely (indie)
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