Obscure NWOBHM Releases hit the spot once again somehow finding another one from the good old New Wave of British Heavy days which might otherwise have remained hidden.
This time the band is Storm and a CD of their demos recorded in 1982 and 1983.
Storm’s history appears sparse. From Sheffield, gigged around a bit, recorded demos, disappeared. The brief bio in the booklet mentions they played local venues such as the much-missed Wapentake and Rebels.
If so I may have seen them back then and not realised it as I lived locally and (mis)spent many, many evenings in the Wapentake. Should there be any Sheffield rock fans from those days seeing this, you’ll remember the Wapentake with misty-eyed nostalgia.
Here we now have ten demos and one live recording on the usual Obscure NWOBHM Releases model of a limited run of 500 CDs.
Musically it’s interesting. A bit rough and ready (demos after all) and the vocals not the best however there’s much promise in the songs which are not without some refinement whilst being unmistakeably of the age yet somewhat refined and varied in delivery.
Assassin is typical NWOBHM. Chunky chugging riff, fast paced, scorching solo, catchy chorus. A bit of a period UFO thing going on I thought.
Holocaust in a similar style as it rocks along with something of a dark, dramatic undertone. Satan’s Child boats another fine chugging riff incorporating tasteful changes of pace alternating with the powerful side.
Bring You Down a nice straightforward punch and fast paced rocker. Then we have the big one in Hell to Pay. This song begs to be played live with the dry ice swirling around. A brooding, slow burner building up the tension and overall being a dramatic mini-epic with some smoking guitar work.
To show the variety further, Firebrand builds around a simple, chunky bass riff and accompanying big guitar chords yet has a melodic side. Have a listen:
Based on what we have here Storm had some raw talent for sure. I’d describe the style as a bit of UFO and a bit of fellow Sheffielders Def Leppard were doing before their first album.
Storm more than worthy of checking out especially if you’re an old NWOBHM aficionado who (like me….) can’t get enough of it.
Act quick though given this is the usual 500 only CD run from Obscure NWOBHM Releases. As I type this they are showing availability on their web site as are Sonic Age Records:
https://onreleases.bigcartel.com
https://www.sonicagerecords.com