Here’s another band from the good old New Wave of British Heavy Metal days on top form – Snatch Back. And a fine album with Ride Hard Run Free.
Originally formed in the middle of the 1970s they did what many bands did when NWOBHM took off working hard with lots of gigging and a self-financed single in the hopes of attracting a record deal.
Alas, that didn’t happen and they disappeared in the early 1980s.
As we know however, it’s hard to keep a NWOBHM band down and Snatch Back re-emerged in 2016 with all their enthusiasm intact including recording their debut full length album – Ride Hard Run Free in 2019.
I stumbled on to it via a Google key word alert I have set up and bought the CD from Snatch Back’s BandCamp page. No excuse not to seeing how it’s such a reasonable price and no cost postage. Download also available if that’s your bag.
The core eight songs are current versions of stuff they wrote back in the old days. Each one thumping upbeat straight ahead New Wave of British Heavy Metal goodness ye with enough going on to keep any metal fan happy.
The title track thumps along like the biker anthem it is. Bruising riffs and hard hitting for the whole four minutes. Killer punches hard too in a brutal three minute attack.
Rock in a Cold Climate a slightly slower bluesy-edged song with a huge chorus you’ll shout along with. Hard Times almost ventures in to Motorhead style territory. Fast, hard edged and delivered with such power and snarling vocals. Have a listen:
The remaining four songs all equally fine and enjoyable.
Next up are the bonus tracks. A studio version of Boogie Shoes. As the title suggests, it’s a fun boogie/blues affair with the band sounding like they’re having a good time with it and not taking it too seriously.
Then two live recordings going all the way back to 1978. The quality isn’t great, understandably, and that’s OK. First up is a powerful version of Star followed by an excellent seven minute sort of spacey/proggy/trippy/heavy First Refusal featuring some fine fretwork as Snatch Back stretch out.
All in all, good to have them back and with such a good album with Ride Hard Run Free I hope there’s more to come.
Why not visit the Snatch Back BandCamp page and pick up a copy (or download/stream) for yourself? Here’s the link:
https://snatch-back.bandcamp.com/album/ride-hard-run-free-the-album
The new Quartz album should be here soon. More NWOBHM to look forward to.