Running from the Law is the sole album from Orphan Allies originally released back in 1986 to little fanfare.
The band were from the Chicago area and with Running from the Law had an album of quite excellent, slightly quirky heavy metal with some refinement.
Whilst it pretty much sank without trace, that’s no slight on the music. It’s a fine listen not least for the powerful, energetic vocals from Evelyn – AKA Little Orphan E.V.
Style wise it’s generally short, hard-hitting songs with a variety of riffs, no-nonsense solos, thudding rhythm section and those glorious vocals adding some melody to the power.
At around a thirty five minute running time there’s no wasted effort or padding here. Simply good, meaty stuff all the way.
The opener and title track being a fine example of that. Nice cutting/chugging riff, tasty solo, thumping bass line and, again, oh, the vocals. Evelyn puts her soul in to it not least the instantly memorable and infectious chorus. Three minutes that burn in to your head and stay there.
Give it Your Best Shot comes in a five minutes and is the longest track on the album. The band stretch out a bit here in to a more complex and rangy song with a touch more melody to it which works well.
American Boys, Timothy, Running Blind, In the Night have no messing about. Delivered at pace and at around three minutes each the trio are hard and heavy yet retaining that melodic slant with the immense vocals yet again.
Some Dogs Know moves between melody and heaviness and quirkiness with then Taken By Storm closing it out with another punchy song with a melodic edge and as always Little Orphan E.V. putting in a remarkable vocal performance of controlled power and range.
Have a listen to Some Dogs Know:
Throughout the album the guitars show plenty of variety in riff style and solo approach mixing things up very well giving each song a feel of its own with no lapsing in the same-sounding territory.
With a major label behind then Orphan Allies would surely have gone far. Instead it was this single album which saw the light of day via a minor label then the band split.
The terms “lost classic” or “hidden gem” are often bandied about sometimes inappropriately. However with Orphan Allies’ Running From the Law we do have a bona-fide “lost classic” of 1980s heavy/melodic metal.
Somehow Skol Records have been in touch with one of the band’s guitarists with the result being limited edition CD version of the album with a run of just 500 CDs. Skol have some track record in doing stuff like this and doing it well. Not least the NWOBHM bands they’ve worked with.
Alas, this is the last release from Skol and I read that they are calling it a day now. That’s a shame.
Running From the Law is an excellent one for Skol to bow out on and top marks to them for getting Orphan Allies out there and for all they’ve done in the past.
I managed to get a copy from Sonic Age Records. As I type this post they are showing availability:
https://www.sonicagerecords.com
Other outlets may have it if you use your search engine of choice before the 500 copies are sold out.