In 1979 I was 16, and there is no doubt that NWOBHM was a major part of my daily listening. It was exciting and vibrant, and with bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Saxon, Samson, Angel Witch, Raven, Venom, Tygers of Pan Tang, Bitches Sin, Mythra, Witchfynde, and so many more it felt like metal was everywhere, and even in the charts. There was something about Maiden which felt visceral, punk combing with metal to create something really special, while Samson were more melodic with an amazing singer. I was devastated when Di’anno left Maiden as he was so unlike any other singer around, and then even more so when I heard that Bruce Bruce was leaving Samson to replace him. Mind you, when I saw the band at Wolverhampton on the Beast on the Road tour (which was before the album came out), all was forgiven and for Maiden, as they say, the rest is history.

To say that Di’anno has had a somewhat spotted history since then is an understatement as he has never been able to again capture the excitement and passion of those early days and is now confined to a wheelchair. However, he seems to have lost none of his drive and here he is a with a new band based around Croatian guitarists Hrvoje Madiraca and Ante Pupačić Pupi (there are different guest musicians providing the bass and drums). Although his vocals have deepened slightly over the years he still has the force and power which made him such an incredible frontman more than 40 years ago. Musically though, this is fairly standard NWOBHM with little in the way of hooks and drive which will make the listener want to go back and play time and again. They are an interesting live band from the videos I have seen, but the fans prefer to hear songs from the first two Maiden albums which must be incredibly disheartening to the guys. If I had come across this band back in the day, I would probably have placed them into the second division – one to keep an eye on to see if they could come up with better material, and certainly one I would go to see in a small venue, but not one which I expected to be selling out halls and having chart success.

Given his importance in the history of metal I truly hope this does well for Di’anno and that he is able to tour and record more music, but I doubt this is one to which I will be returning.

Rating: 6/10

Links:
https://pauldianno.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/WarhorseBandOfficial
https://bravewordsrecords.com/