In the last week or so, I’ve watched Iron Maiden twice. The world’s greatest heavy metal band (and arguably its greatest band, full stop) has been in absolutely incendiary form. They were brilliant. But that’s a given.
There was something else too: the crowd. In the quarter of a century I’ve been watching Eddie and the boys, the audience hasn’t aged. Instead, it has been replenished – rebirthed, if you will – with loads of young people.
I’ve also seen Tailgunner twice recently. They opened for Warbringer and Hellripper in the spring and KK’s Priest last week, and it’s hard not to notice that they are something special.
What makes it even more remarkable is that they’ve only been together for 18 months since bassist and leader (think we’ve heard that somewhere before) Thomas Hewson quit his previous band with the stated aim of “forming the metal band I’ve always had in my head.”
So, has he succeeded? Yes, and then some, because as debut albums go, “Guns For Hire” is sensational.
“Shadows Of War” wants to be nothing but metal. That’s all there is to it. It lays its cards on the table early (or maybe its studded belt). Either way, there’s something reassuring about the way the solo soars.
“Guns For Hire” itself is a cracker. We had the single on the site, and it was beautiful to hear something so youthful and energetic in the name of heavy metal.
And if there are few surprises along the way, then it doesn’t matter. “White Death” reminds me of a few years ago when there were many metal bands around, and bands like White Wizard were doing this sort of thing, while “Revolution Scream” briefly toys with something more epic but settles for gallops. And the whole gamut of this stuff is covered. “Futures Lost,” for example, starts with a drum solo and then channels something like the punk attitude of early Maiden.
The twin axe attack (and as much as that is a cliché, it’s true here) of “New Horizons” is instantly recognizable, yet fresh. The lyrics, too, are “proper” metal, yet they are captivating and catchy. “What is the day without the night?” sings Craig Cairns on “Warhead,” and you can try resisting it if you like. And as the air-raid sirens go off on “Crashdive,” there’s a quasi-thrash thing going on. It’s all good; by now, you’re all in.
“Blood For Blood” is proper NWOBHM stuff (and I would like to change that name! It was new 40 years ago. Can’t we have a new new wave? A riptide? Something.)
The closing track, “Rebirth,” is also epic stuff. What that does is two-fold. First, it gives a clue to the ambition and scale of Tailgunner, but second, it gives me a really easy final paragraph for this review.
Because, like it or not, Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Judas Priest aren’t going on forever. Nicko McBrain is in his 70s, for goodness’ sake. Someone, somewhere has to carry the flame, because Metal will not die, and Tailgunner is the best-placed band in years to oversee the, well, rebirth
Rating: 9.5/10
