Excalibur’s The Bitter End is a superb slab of “lost” New Wave of British Heavy Metal era mayhem now available on CD, digital etc. Dammed good it is too.
The band hailed from Bradford here in West Yorkshire. Remarkably the band got together in 1981 whilst still at school in their mid-teens, which makes the album all the more remarkable when you listen to it.
An increasing interest in their music and a demo led to them signing with a small label for their debut album – which with just the six tracks is arguably an elongated EP – though it’s all class NWOBHM with energy, melody and refinement without losing any of the power.
However, unknown to the band, the record company took it upon themselves to remix the album which understandably did not go down too well. Now here on this re-issue we have the original mix of The Bitter End, the record company’s mix and the four track demo the band did pre-album.
The original mix is sharp, crisp and fresh. The record company version not so much – loses a lot.
The songs are all first rate. So well put together and performed. Excellent chunky riffage. Blazing solo work, monster drum sound, throbbing bass and big vocals. They can do the fast paced rocker stuff and the more nuanced stuff too. Such a lot of effort packed in to the six tracks.
I’m Telling You, Devil in Disguise a first rate trio of in your face heaviness with attitude. Only Time Can Tell a bit more towards the melodic side with a memorable chorus and hook.
Come On And Rock does just that – then the epic Haunted By The Shadows. What a well put together song this is. Gentle intro then it takes off with the blazing riffs and guitar work, slows back down a bit before gradually building to quite crescendo as it plays out. Fantastic. Have a listen:
If you get yourself the Bitter End (and I hope you do) it’s interesting to listen how the two different mixes compare. For me, the original is so much better than the record company’s butchering of it.
The demo versions of Come on and Rock, Only Time Can Tell and Haunted By The Shadows are good too showing Excalibur’s talents. And there’s another song in the demo – Nightmare – which is a short, to the point heavy rocker.
All in all, top, top stuff. With chops like this, Excalibur should have gone on to big things, but alas did not. Another New Wave of British Heavy Metal era band with the talent but not the breaks.
Don’t think about it – buy it. All the usual versions on Amazon – CD, MP3, streaming.