The recent run spell of obscure New Wave of British Heavy Metal band stuff seeing the light of day continues apace. What with Turbo, Torture, Wulf and Clientelle, we now can add Radium to the list.
Received an email from Sonic Age Records a couple of days ago which had their new stock which included a listing for Radium in the NWOBHM section.
Radium formed around 1980 and were from Nottinghamshire. Together with other local bands – namely Rage Against Time, Hell and Paralex they formed a sort of loose collaboration which was known as the East Midlands Bands’ Cooperative.
This collaborative effort involved the bands mutually supporting each other via shared equipment, arranging gigs etc. Not a bad idea – right?
As with many other original NWOBHM-era bands at the time, Radium independently released a single in an attempt to bag a proper recoding contract.
That single came in 1981 and was titled Through the Smoke.
The limited budget meant the production wasn’t great though did show some promise and musical variety.
Angel of Fear is nicely heavy with some effective lead work. Dusty Road a bit of a strange one being a sort of extended ballad with bite then the mostly instrumental Making Changes goes a bit jazzy in parts.
Here is Through the Smoke:
Radium didn’t last much longer becoming yet another band in the burgeoning early 1980s NWOBHM scene who didn’t break out.
However……Faster and Louder Records have a limited edition of just 300 CDs out which comprises of Radium’s EP from 1981 together with a live performance on home turf from around the same time.
If you’d like to grab one before it’s too late, the issuing label is Faster and Louder Records:
https://www.fasterandlouderrecords.com
Also Sonic Age Records who sent the email about it:
https://www.sonicagerecords.com
No doubt other outlets available if you seek via your search engine of choice.
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