A few days ago a chunky padded envelope arrived on the mat. Hmmmm – what could that be? I asked myself. Opened it up and …… a ha….the pre-order of the new Tysondog CD Cry Havoc. Nice tin box, postcards, guitar pick and even the CD was in there. Wasn’t expecting it for a while though there it was. “Play me” it begged. So I did……………..and…………the New Wave of British Heavy Metal boys from way back are, er, back and how. NWOBHM lives on and on.
First spin. “OMG” – didn’t like it. Perhaps too much eager anticipation on my part. A wall of samey-sounding noise. Must give it more chances. Second and third spins. Started to make much more sense as the songs filtered in to my brain and the craftsmanship and hidden depths emerged in to my consciousness. Now after six or seven spins – NWOBHM nirvana. Cry Havoc delivers.
Unmistakably NOWBHM in overall style/influence though there’s plenty of variation in the dozen new cuts. Straight ahead heavy stuff, some melodic stuff, some thrash/speed metal stuff and even (well I think so at least) a bit of Faith No More style quasi-raping a-la Epic. Plenty going on here to keep us all happy from the old NWOBHM-fart like me through to those of you still young enough to play at being Ed Banger with the air-guitar.
A chunky sound throughout. The drums and rhythm guitar riffs are monster. The lead work is first rate too. Fast, fluid, stylish, varied in the right percentages for the songs. Take the title track (first cut). A jangly-type riff intro then everything else comes in. BOOM. Cry Havoc indeed. A period Judas Priest style song with its own identity. The Needle is the one which makes me think of FNM and shows early on that this album has its own nuances to be discovered by the discerning ear.
And on we go with proper, proper stuff throughout. There’s so much to like. And as with every good album there is a stand-out stone cold killer cut. For me here it’s track nine – Broken. Nice innocent pastoral gentle picked strumming introduction. All so innocent right? But you know the explosion has to come…..but when. Then it does. Big, big noise which meanders back and forth with change of pace and some quite superb guitar work holding it all together. Superb showcase for the band in one song. Shadow of the Beast does a similar job two. Give and a half minutes of powerful changes of pace and time, riffage, solo work and all the rest of it to make a monster cut.
Don’t believe me? The listen to it here on SoundCloud:
https://soundcloud.com/rocksector/tysondog-shadow-of-the-beast
It didn’t work out for Tysongdog the first time around way back in the original NWOBHM days. Now that they are back with this offering they deserve an even break and I hope they get it. If you pick up a copy (and I recommend that you do) then give at a few spins like I did and prepare your ears to be rewarded.
Check it out on Rocksector Records: http://www.rocksector.com
And the band’s web site: http://www.tysondog.co.uk
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