AFM Records [Release date: 28.06.24]
There’s Old School Heavy Metal bands, and there’s Anvil.
On their 20th album now, the aptly titled One And Only, these Canadian legends have shed any pretence of “modernising” their sound, reaching back to the honest, unadorned working man’s metal of their Metal Blade days.
The band, with a consistent line up of founder members Robb Reiner and Steve Kudrow, plus the inspired recruitment of bass man, Chris Robertson ten years ago, seem reinvigorated by this renewal.
So while their “sound” reaches back in time, several of the songs here have contemporary lyrical themes. ‘Truth Is Dying’, ‘Fight For Your Rights’, and ‘World Of Fools’ are full of mature and interesting emotional observations. The song titles alone tell a story.
The opening tracks ‘One And Only’ and ‘Feed Your Fantasy’ have got plenty of industrial grit under their musical fingernails. The band resist turning the heavy metal guitars up to eleven, and in doing so leave room for a loud and relentless rhythmic pulse.
‘Heartbroken’, a rough and ready metal song, cuts through the sentiment, and the results, confronting us with stark but simple truths, are very powerful. It’s actually quite touching.
And again, lyrically, with ‘Gold and Diamonds’, ‘Dead Mans Shoes’ and ‘Rocking In The World’ they confound our expectations, focusing on the unlikeliest of subjects. These are well written, precise, sharp and relatively friction free heavy metal songs, with sturdy melodies and provocative lyrical themes.
The fact that they are delivered by an influential band, still with plenty of heavy metal fire in their belly, is a joy to behold. ***1/2
Review by Brian McGowan
Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK
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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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