Iron Claw-A different game

Ripple
2011

Many bands from previous decades come back with new albums and the results tend to be varied although it's normally tough for a band to recapture their glory from the old days. However on occasion a band has all the ingredients to make it work despite age or current musical trends. Thus is the case with Iron Claw who have not released new material since the 1970's. Instead of being a blast from the past this is more of a full out explosion as opener "What love left" came plowing out of my speakers. It was like Steppenwolf, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath wrapped into big hard fisted attack. "The Traveller" treads into blues rock territory and this is an area that several songs on this album fall into. It is a style that they are very fluent in.
"Southern Sky and "It's easy" both have a definite Deep Purple vibe with fantastic vocals. In fact several tracks on this album have a definite Deep Purple influence both in the music and the vocals. Singer Gordon Brown reminds me of a cross between Ian Gillan and Slough Feg's Mike Scalzi. "See them fall" is one of my favorites with it's marching pace. This track definitely reminds me of Slough Feg only a bit more upbeat perhaps. Final track "Closing In" creeps on slowly, but don't let it fool you into thinking this is going to be sleeper. Hang in there and the passages towards the end will have you in awe of this band once again. These are just a few of the standout tracks, but really the whole album is impressive. This is an album that will thrill long time fans and have young fans wondering why they never heard of Iron Claw before. Either way Iron Claw have unleashed a thrilling, heavy blues rock album that's sure to be towards the top of my best albums of 2011 once December rolls around.