By DJ Monk
Every so often an album comes along that defines a band’s career. Diamond Head’s ground-breaking debut, ‘Lightning To The Nations’ did just that. It’s not often that any band can repeat such a moment in history. Metallica have tried, and failed, on numerous occasions. But, Diamond Head, quite possibly the second most influential band in the history of British heavy metal (after Black Sabbath of course) have succeeded in doing just that, as ‘The Coffin Train’ is, put as plainly and simply as I can, a fucking stunning opus which not only stands alongside their debut but threatens to surpass it in terms of its epic, grandiose magnificence. Yes, it is THAT good. Nay, better!
They lay down the marker for all the above accolades from the opening notes of ‘Belly Of The Beast’, which possesses all the vim and verve of ‘Shoot Out The Lights’, ‘It’s Electric’ or ‘Sweet And Innocent’, except transported forwards by four decades. Brian Tatler’s guitar grunts and growls, the riff precise and measured before exploding into one of his trademark cascading solos; the rhythm section of Karl Wilcox (drums), Andy Abberley (guitars) and Dean Ashton (bass) are accurate and concrete solid, underpinning the sound with accuracy and aplomb in equal measure.
But, it is the performance of Rasmus Bom Andersen that truly grabs you by the balls and gives you a good shaking: on DH’s previous, self-titled, album he had set down a marker as Tatler having perhaps found the long-awaited successor to Sean Harris in helping to bring that long-lost vocal interpretation of his songs to life. As the Danish emigré settled into the line-up, developed his partnership with the band founder and they both fed off each other’s energy, he increasingly staked his claim to the crown of the frontman the band had been waiting four decades to find… On ‘The Coffin Train’, the singer is majestic on every level, demonstrating power, passion and an almost alchemic ability to take the tone of a song and completely turn it on its head, as well as one of the most dynamic and impressive vocal ranges you will EVER hear, from the throaty thrashiness of ‘Belly Of The Beast’ through the bottom-ended doominess of ‘The Messenger’ to the Cornell-invoking mysticism of the title track and the pure emotion-draining ‘Shades Of Black’.
So, is there an ‘Am I Evil?’ moment on ‘The Coffin Train’. Not quite: but, can there ever be? Personally, I don’t think so. But, they do come very close. As alluded to, the riff to ‘Belly Of The Beast’ is as instantaneous in its impact, as is that of the title track, while ‘Shades Of Black’, the hugely time-shifting ‘The Sleeper’ and the magnificently insane ‘Serrated Love’ capture its epic qualities. But, does Tatler want to replace one of the songs that defines the sound of modern heavy metal? Of course, he fucking doesn’t! What he does want to do is prove that Diamond Head are still a powerful and extremely relevant force in the arena they helped to build. Exactly 40 years on from the release of the band’s debut single, Tatler has not only achieved his objective but re-invented a band that were in danger of becoming a spent force who now, thanks to some extremely tactical recruitment are more than capable of standing toe to toe with either their contemporaries or successors and dare them to do better. Few will. Everyone else will just wallow in the hugeness of this aural experience.
‘The Coffin Train’ is released tomorrow (Friday 24 May). You can get your copy HERE.
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