Quartz go all he way back to the mid-1970s when then known as Bandy Legs before renaming as Quartz a few years later.
Then became associated with the formative New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene when releasing the excellent Stand Up and Fight album in 1980 followed by Against All Odds in 1983 before disappearing shortly afterwards.
They did reappear a few years ago with Fear No Evil and in 2022 the very fine On the Edge of No Tomorrow. And now in 2025 Quartz hit us with their sixth album cunningly titled, er, six.
Now, six studio albums in around fifty years hardly screams prolific does it? However – with Quartz it is quality over quantity as shown yet again here on Six.
And it’s still pretty much the original line-up with Derek Arnold, Malcolm Cope and Mick Hopkins together with Geoff Bate who has been on board since about 1983.
Six is very enjoyable stuff. The metronomic drumming of Cope and the precise bass from Arnold give the solid foundations for Hopkins to roam around flicking out his hard hitting riffage which chugs, cuts and slashes. Bate’s rhythm guitar provides some added ooomph and he puts in a fine vocal showing also.
Back to Hopkins’ guitar…..his solos are quality. He’s not one for flashy shredding at a thousand miles an hour. Instead his style is measured and understated yet effective in the context of each song.
Insomnia is a nice driving opener chugging away and catchy too. Come Hell or High Water raises things up further with a tasty solo from Hopkins.
Songs such as Give it All You’ve Got and Burn in Hell thump away at you and to pick out another one, Wake Up is a hard hitter.
Well, the entire album is a hard hitter. Perhaps best shown here by the closing two tracks which have something of a doomy and progressive metal edge to them added to by the sparing yet effective use of some keyboards.
Cerberus is nicely heavy and a bit doomy. And instead of, like you may be thinking, being about the multi-headed dog guarding the gates of the underworld – the tongue in cheek lyrics rail in frustration of computers and multiple passwords.
Knights of Darkness has it all going on fizzing with power and energy. A most fine way to close out a most fine album.
This quartet of seasoned professionals continue to do what they do best in delivering an album of varied and pacey heaviness with plenty to enjoy over the fifty minute or so running time. Long may Quartz keep doing what they are doing.
>> QUARTZ SIX ON AMAZON HERE <<
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