All the way back around three decades ago when the glorious New Wave of British Heavy Metal beast roamed the UK seemingly creating great bands out of the (not so) clean air, Mournblade came in to existence. And just recently back in to my consciousness so time for another brief NWOBHM history lesson based on ever-hazy memory.
Great name, right. Mournblade. It is, of course, the good old Black Sword of Chaos as created by the magical Michael Moorcock and his Eternal Champion series of books. Moorcock himself has not-insignificant links with the rock community collaborating with for example Hawkwind and the Blue Oyster Cult (Black Blade anyone?). And it was Moorcock who apparently granted the band permission to use the name after said permission was asked for in person.
So Mournblade set off to conquer the world on the crest of the NWOBHM wave. Relentless gigging and a sound a little out of the ordinary plus the sci-fi “tinge” brought them to the attention of many. Not least a Kerang magazine journo who (perhaps over-enthusiastically) dubbed them the “future of heavy metal”.
Gig followed gig, fanbase grew and a debut album appeared in 1985 entitled Time’s Running Out. It was even on the Flicknife label to help with the convoluted Hawkwind/Moorcock connection. It sold a few and the band toured more and more in promotion of it even landing some meaty support slots with the mighty ‘Wind, Motorhead and Nik Turner to name but a few. The ‘future of heavy metal’ was on its way……….or was it.
Sadly not. The cult following grew even spawning a fanzine called The Machine however like many bands of the era, it didn’t work out for Mournblade and they split around 1990 or thereabouts. Strik another much promising NWOBHM band off the list…..
………..or do we…..is the ‘future of heavy metal’ back? The answer, my friend, is not necessarily blowing in the wind……..the answer would appear to be YES! The ‘Blade is back and I believe gigging and possibly recording as the NWOBHM revival and reformation continues apace.
For those of you who are in to the whole downloading/MP3 scene, you can fill your iPod with Live & Loud Studio Outtakes – which is just like the title sounds.
> CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD LIVE & LOUD <
For those of you (like me) who prefer the physical product you can enjoy Mournbalde via the Anthology Vol 1 CD which is: “first part of the band’s history from 1984/5 offering classic tracks and rarities” and described by one reviewer as:
“These guys were one of the greatest live acts around back in the 1980’s. Think Alice Cooper meets Hawkwind with a bit of Royal Shakespeare Company thrown in for good measure. This “Anthology 1” covers the early years of the band before they, Like Kiss, Shed the make-up and theatrics and drifted more mainstream. As far as I know, there are some demo recordings on here that exist nowhere else. A MUST for the NWOBHM fan or for anyone that wants to add something a little bit unique to their collection.”
> CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MOURNBLADE ANTHOLOGY VOL 1 <
So great to recall a band from “back in the day” I’d all but forgotten about. Perhaps it’s not too late for that future of heavy metal tag eh.