Blitzkrieg-Back From Hell

Metal Nation Records
2013

In preparation for this review of "Back From Hell" I decided to dig through my old notes on New Wave Of British Heavy Metal legends Blitzkrieg. After looking back over our archives I realized that the last time Blitzkrieg was covered here was back in 2011! Both Metal Mark and I did a write-up on this British metal band and what's interesting is that even that far back there were rumblings of a new Blitzkrieg studio-album! So it's been six years that fans have had to wait. That's six (l-o-n-g) years since Blitzkrieg's last recording (the so-so "Theatre of the Damned") and, in typical fashion for this band that was formed in Leicester way back in 1980( for a more thorough history on the band be sure to check out our N.W.O.B.H.M. Wednesday feature on Blitzkrieg at the link below)!), more line-up changes have taken place between studio-albums. Joining the always-dependable Brian Ross (lead vocals and keyboards) on "Back From Hell", which is (full-length) album number eight for the band if my counting is correct, we have Brian's son Alan (ex-Earthrod, ex-Cardinal Synne) on guitar along with guitarist Ken Johnson, bassist Bill Baxter and drummer Mick Kerrigan. Other then Johnson (who at least played live for the band in the past if nothing else) this looks to be a whole new cast of characters. Now, prior to downloading this album for myself off of iTunes (I have the expanded CD edition heading my way from Japan as we speak, but who knows when that will get here!) I did read a copy of reviews of Blitzkrieg's latest and I know that at least one review mentioned how Satan (Brian's other N.W.O.B.H.M. band which released the excellent "Life Sentence" earlier this year-link to review also available below this article) had better musicians backing up Brian then Blitzkrieg did. No arguments there. Especially as the guys in Satan (if memory serves me correct) were all season veterans. Here we do seem to have a younger bunch of metalheads backing up Brian Ross. But, while they might not be as technically sufficient as the key players in Satan, in regards to Blitzkrieg I'd offer the counter-point that less is more. Since Blitzkrieg always seemed to be more of a blue collar metal act anyway I think in this instance the other key personnel do just fine. Besides, this album comes off as being more of an 80's metal album/N.W.O.B.H.M. release then Satan's latest so they both have a lot offer fans. Alright, now that I've addressed that issue let's take a peak at the actual music inside of "Back From Hell". The album starts off with a spoken-word intro in which we find Jake the Ripper returning to modern-day London. Having (presumably) escaped from hell he converses with a "charming" prostitute while lamenting how everything has changed so dramatically. Soon enough he shows his "true" face and the album takes off running with the title-track, "Back From Hell". Having always been fascinated by the story of Jake the Ripper I actual like the theme of Blitzkrieg's latest offering and, pound for pound and note for note, the metal on display here does seem to live up to the album's creepy send-off! After setting the stage with the near speed-metal assault of "Back From Hell" we're "treated" to a modern-take of the band's early classic "Buried Alive". While such a number could be deemed totally unnecessary it does at least show off the strength of modern-day Brian Ross. Having listened to both cuts back to back (as I was curious after hearing the new remake) it doesn't stack-up to the original number, but then again how could anyone reasonably expect it to? We're talking about one of N.W.O.B.H.M.'s better singles here, but for what it is (a modern-day interpretation and all) it's not all that bad. It's not the only choice of covers on "Back From Hell" as the band does a decent enough job on a re-worked "Seek and Destroy" (dubbed "S&D (Seek and Destroy)" on "Back From Hell"). As Metallica covered Blitzkrieg at the very start of their career it seems fitting enough that Brian Ross and company repay the favor. It's not  a choice cover by any stretch of the imagination, but it does reaffirm my belief that Brian Ross should have been called in to front Metallica. I know they were trying for John Bush and (maybe?) Glenn Danzig, but had Metallica somehow convinced Brian Ross to come sing for them can you even begin to imagine how cool that would have been? Anyway, speaking of other artists and what not on "Call for the Priest" the band name-checks all things Judas Priest. With it's lyrics (seemingly at least as I don't have them in front of me to verify) made up entirely of Judas Priest song and album titles it's an interesting tribute of sorts. Sure it came as a bit of a surprise, but both are supreme British metal acts so one can see (or in this case hear!) the connection between both acts easy enough! Elsewhere we have numbers like the HEAVY and yet MELODIC "Complicated Issue" which, besides being different just in the fact that it ends up dealing with the issue of substance abuse, features excellent female vocals and well-placed keyboard passes! Yes, Brian Ross duets with a female vocalist and plays some snazzy keyboard parts the result is (surprisingly enough) pure heavy metal excellence! Who knew such a set-up could work so well? Meanwhile the number "V" is inspired by Alan Moore's graphic novel "V for Vendetta" although for my money it's hard to listen to it and not think of the 2006 film "V for Vendetta" instead! It's another surprisingly effective metal number as is speed-tinged "Sleepy Hollow" and (original version) album closer', "We Have Assumed Control". Thanks to the Metal Archives I now know that "Return to the Village" is lyrically inspired by the British TV series "The Prisoner". That does not however make up for it's ho-hum assembly and bland delivery. Still it's probably the only cut here I didn't really go for as "Sahara" is a solid slab of (slow build-up, but huge pay-off!) heavy metal while "One Last Time" sees Blitzkrieg pull of a power ballad in grand fashion! As shocking as it is to hear Brian Ross sing with a (talented) female vocalist on "Complicated Issue" it's just as shocking to see the band tackle a power ballad and make it stand out! Other then the instrumental "4 U" that's it for the standard version of this disc. When I do (hopefully soon?) get the extended version of "Back From Hell" I'll do an edit and comment on the bonus material. But for now all of that is what you get out of "Back From Hell" and this is one release that gives as good as it gets! Brian Ross still sings with the fire of a younger man and Blitzkrieg does their best to remind folks that they are every bit as important to the the N.W.O.B.H.M.movement and heavy metal history as bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. With their new album, "Back From Hell", Blitzkrieg have given fans of old plenty to rejoice about while still releasing one album that should appeal to today's younger generation of metal fanatics. It's definitively not a strictly N.W.O.B.H.M release as the band's celebrated return sees them trying out everything from 80's metal to near modern speed/power metal, but for those of whose of us who are old enough to know the real score it's as good as it gets! Welcome back Blitzkrieg. I hope you realize just how much you've been missed...

N.W.O.B.H.M. Wednesday feature on Blitzkrieg:http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2011/03/nwobhm-wednesday-blitzkrieg.html

Review of Satan's "Life Sentence":
http://metalmark.blogspot.com/2013/05/satan-life-sentence.html

NWOBHM WEDNESDAY: BLITZKRIEG

Andy says-

Love them or hate them Metallica introduced the world to Blitzkrieg. I'm not saying that Blitzkrieg needed Metallica's help. That's an argument reserved for another day. What I am saying is that having their song "Blitzkrieg" covered on the Creeping Death EP would lead to a lot of people wondering exactly who this English act was and how they could be that influential to metal's biggest act? The fact is that the first line up of the band would last only fifteen months and issue only a few official recordings.The group was originally formed in 1980 as Split Image with Sarah Aldwinkle on vocals, Jim Sieroto on guitar (he would change the spelling of his last name to Sirotto to make life easier), Steve English on bass and Steve Abbey on drums. Looking to toughen up their sound the group would bring in vocalist Brian Rose and also add rhythm guitarist Ian Jones. It would be only a month after Brian Rose joined that the group would record their first demo w/ "Armageddon", "Inferno" and of course "Blitzkrieg". Neat Records would be one of the first to hear it and and offered them the chance to publish a single in 1981. A two day session would result in the "Buried Alive"/"Blitzkrieg" single as well as some one-take songs ( one song a re-recording of "Inferno" would end up on Neat's Lead Weight compilation also in 1981). A "live" six-song cassette (Blitzed Alive) was recorded in May of 1981. Mick Moore would replace Steve English and John Antcliffe would take over for Ian Jones. A second single "Too Wild To Tame" was demoed and a deal with Carrerre Records (home of Saxon) was all set when all of a sudden the band started falling apart. Founding member Jim Sirotto decided he didn't want to tour and didn't like the deal on the table with Carrerre Records. Despite the fact that some members wanted to carry on the band called it a day in late 1981. Brian Ross would go on to join Satan as well playing with Avenger, Lone Wolf and Unter den Linden. However in 1984 Ross and Jim Sirotto would decide to give Blitzkrieg another go. Although it should be noted that "A Time Of Changes" was originally going to be a Brian Ross solo act. Along with guitarist Mick Proctor (ex-Tygers of Pan Tang), bass player Mick Moore (Blitzkrieg/ Avenger) and drummer Sean Taylor (Satan/Blind Fury, ex-Raven) they recorded "A Time of Changes". It would later be released in 1985. Back to Metallica's part in the story of in regards to Blitzkrieg. Seeing as Lars Ulrich was a huge fan of Blitzkrieg (and NWOBHM in general) Metallica would cover the song "Blitzkrieg" first on the 1984 Creeping Death EP and then on the 1988 reissue of Kill "Em. "A Time of Changes" wouldn't come out until 1985 as I said so while Metallica's cover brought exposure to the band many fan's would also falsely assume that Blitzkrieg's version was the cover. You have to remember this was before the Internet age so trying to get all the facts straight when it comes to heavy metal bands could be a hard thing to do. With that though there was no excuse when only a few years back a 20 something "metal" fan told me that "Blitzkrieg" was a Metallica original and that the band Blitzkrieg was named for it. This is exactly why we need this article and why NWOBHM history should be a mandatory course for young metalheads. Blitzkrieg would end up breaking up and reforming more times than I can count but in 1990 the band was at it again for the 1991 release of "10 Years of Blitzkrieg".In 1992 they started recording more songs for "Unholy Trinity" which wouldn't be released until 1995. "Ten" followed in 1996 and "The Mists of Avalon" in 1998. Vocalist Brian Ross would be involved in a car accident that would put Blitzkrieg on the shelf. Six months later though Blitzkrieg was back in the game and have been going strong every since. "Absolute Power" in 2002 and "Absolute Live" in 2004 would come out (as well as 2003's compilation "A Time Of Changes - Phase 1") followed by 2005's "Sins and Greed". 2007 saw Blitzkrieg release their last album "Theatre of the Damned" through their own record label Armageddon Music and rumors persist that we'll see a new disc in 2011. Yes "Blitzkrieg" is as classic a NWOBHM song as their comes and Metallica did their song justice when they covered it. And yet there is so much more to their story and their music needs to be heard. If you haven't yet then do yourself a favor and hunt their music down.

Metal Mark says-

Let me get at Blitzkrieg before I get at the involvement of that band whose names starts with an "M". Despite the line-up changes and all the go arounds they had a slightly unique sound in the world of NWOBHM. They frequently walked the line between a cleaner melodic sound and rougher heavier side. To their credit they not only sounded great doing both styles, but they actually sounded comfortable handling the different styles. They could blend in some heavy rhythms not far off from what Judas Priest were doing around the same time, but then they could rip it up and peel off some lightning riffs as well. Brian Ross had a rough hard rock style vocals, but then he kick in some serious falsettos. I love the thick drum sound on their early material as well. Just a few of my favorites are "Blitzkrieg" with it's amazin riff, "Savior" and it's largr than life sound and "Take a look around" with it's varied tones and pace changes. As with other bands like Budgie and Diamond Head who were so no known on this side of the Atlantic Metallica helped Blitzkrieg to gain some notice due to their cover of "Blitzkrieg". It's an alright cover, but when you hear the original you will know that Metallica didn't quite do justice to just how magnificent this song it. Blitzkrieg have a somewhat jumbled history, but they also produced some stellar songs. Definitely a NWOBHM band worth re-visiting.

Remembering Blitzkrieg

I believe that I bought Blitzkrieg's "Ready for action" on cassette around 85 or 86 at my local record store. Obviously I didn't buy this EP for the cover because it looks like some sixth grader knocked it out during their math class one day. It seems like this originally had a big sticker with the claim "produced by Ron Keel" which I guess carried some weight in 1985. The production is average, but good enough. There doesn't seem to be a lot of background information on these guys for some reason. They were from LA and wore a lot of spandex and hairspray. I guess that description fit a hundred or so bands back then. It's the music that set these guys apart. I have memories of playing this over and over back when I was in tenth grade or so. The heaviness level is similar to early Motley Crue as they head directly into the meat of the material. About two years later my tape snapped while being played. I almost forgot about these guys until a few years ago when I picked it up cheap on CD. Hesitantly I slipped it into my player thinking that perhaps it hadn't aged well. It certainly wasn't perfect, but it still sounded pretty good. They definitely had some real potential and it's a shame they didn't stick around long enough to knock out another album.