By David O’Neill
Persian Risk were one of the NWOBHM bands kicking around in the late ‘70s. With a list of protagonists that reads like the Who’s Who of BHM it’s a real wonder why they haven’t had the same levels of success as some of the other bands such as Motörhead (who they toured with in the early ‘80s). This was on the back of Phil Campbell being one of the original members. A fact that is readily acknowledged in the promotional blurb and credits for the writing and guitars on the tracks on the albums. Also included in Carl Sentance’s career is a significant collaboration with Geezer Butler, Don Airey and Wishbone Ash’s drummer Tim Brown. Whilst none of the original collaborators are included in the current re-recordings the influences run throughout.
Why has this taken so long to record I hear you ask. Well, Sentance has been touring the world since 2015 with Nazareth, replacing Dan McCafferty on vocals following his health issues. The original recordings of both these albums have been kicking around in Sentance’s back catalogue for a while due to the other commitments but are now given a new lease of life-and rightly so.
The 25 tracks all display significant stylistic approaches to the original 2012 and 2014 releases, however, the four years spent on tour with Nazareth have given Sentence the impetus to re-record, remix and re-master both the original albums with some new band members. Whilst the integrity of the original compilations lean heavily on the original composers, the new found confidence that Sentance exudes through every track. His vocal varies from the higher register occupied by early Gillan and Bruce Dickinson to a much lower register for the slower tracks that punctuate the album.
The guitar riffs and drumbeats are definitively Motörhead and Campbell in origin throughout the first tracks from the ‘Once A King’ album but in Sentance there is a newfound NWOBHM vocalist to rival many of the best. Having had the pleasure of meeting Carl at Steelhouse in 2015 what amazed me more about this was no way would I have put him in his late 50s (nearer mid-40s, I want to know how he does it!).
For me the standout tracks are the bluesier ‘I Thought It Was You’ on the ‘Who Am I?’ album and ‘Ride The Storm’ (from ‘Once A King’), which has a definite Deep Purple vibe to it – but then I’m a sucker for blues-based rock and Deep Purple anyway, as I’m sure you know by now. ‘Riding High’ (again from the ‘Once a King’ album) has a definite ‘Trooper’ feel to it, but that’s no bad thing either!
Altogether, well done Carl Sentence for bringing this back to life. I hope it gets the life it deserves.
- ‘Who Am I? Once A King’ is released today (Friday 22 November). You can get your copy HERE.
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