If Rush had moved to Bristol around 1980 they’d probably have sounded like Stormtrooper. Pride Before a Fall is a quite remarkable slab of 1980s proggy heavy NWOBHM era mastery with the band showing a huge amount of talent, musicianship and ambitious arrangements. From the straight ahead rocker to the epic.
Stormtrooper hailed from Bristol. A city not noted for its musical influence at the time. Perhaps this is what held Stormtroper back. Who knows. What I do know (and so will you after buying the album) is how dammed good they were and how big they surely should have been.
Imagine a conglomerate of Rush, Budgie, White Spirit and a tinge of Yes. The musical ability is truly remarkable. Paul Merrell has a vast vocal range. Nick Hancox like a mini Neal Peart on the drums. Bob Starling has to be heard to be believed shredding, riffing and finessing away on the guitar.
Colin Bond’s bass is some of the finest you’ll hear. Throbbing, complex lines often at break-neck speed. Not unlike a second lead guitar in places. Add to that his spacy Moog Taurus use give everything that late ‘70s Rush feel.
Marvellous stuff from a band who met their guitarist whilst queuing up for Led Zeppelin tickets.
The usual pattern at the time of heavy local gigging to build up the following and hopefully attract a deal. A single appeared showing up as high as number 11 in the heavy metal charts. Stormtrooper attempted to spread their wings outside Bristol though it wouldn’t work out and that was that.
The good news for us today is that the band cut an album’s worth of material at a studio session “back in the day” which has been released as Pride Before a Fall. This shows the extent of the remarkable talent present. Be prepared to buy a new pair of socks before listening because the album will blow the pair you are wearing straight off………!
The title cut as a bit of a Bastille Day feel to it. A galloping riff. First hint of the Rush-style influences. Battle of the Eve extends that further. An extended cut of high quality proggy/spacy metal – the band’s Xanadu if you will. The mystically trippy intro and the Moog mixing in with “Boggy’s” spacy bass before it all kicks off. Phenominal. Listen to it for yourself.
In the State in the City takes us back to more traditional NWOBHM territory and we even have a crunching number with a silly title a-la Budgie: If it Takes a Man a Week to Walk a Fortnight Then How Long is a Piece of String.
The remarkable rockers keep coming before the trippy Confusion and another storming proggy epic in After Battle close it out.
Full marks to Bristol Archive Records for digging this out of the vaults and affording us all the opportunity to discover Stormtrooper. The highest of highest of recommendations from your blogger and reviewer.
>> STORMTROOPER PRODE BEFORE A FALL AVAILABLE ON AMAZON HERE <<
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