RSS Feed


MORE
Destructor

Warhead Music LLP (2026)
Rating: 6.5/10

Responsible for two of the finest yet most underrated albums of the 80s – Warhead (1981) and Blood & Thunder (1982) – British band More should have been far more successful than they were, but instead fizzled out shortly afterwards. Since then the band, with a revolving door of members and under several guises (including ExMore and More 2012), re-emerged but no material was ever issued.

Now, circa 2026, More is officially back under the guidance of longstanding member and bassist Baz Nicholls. He is joined by vocalist Mike Freeland, who arrived in the late 90s, drummer Steve Rix, who joined in 2012, and newest recruit guitarist Peter Welsh.

Featuring ten tracks with a tidy running time of 46 minutes, Destructor is the ballsy, if somewhat sanitised platter I had hoped for. A lot of modern rock / metal, and just music in general, seems to succumb to plastic production, and with Destructor there are moments when that occurs. Even so, there’s a tightness with this opus too and at times levels of restraint as opener ‘Heart On Fire’ strides confidently yet also casually. Mike Freeland sounds a tad strained at times, and there are a lot of clichéd lyrics too, but More remains steadfast, providing straight up melodic metal that still conjures up the spirits of the original New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement, although without the rawness and dark in your face attitude.

The album does boast a batch of really strong tracks though. Foot tapper ‘Scream’ sits somewhere between Whitesnake and Led Zeppelin as the vocals smoulder through the heavy traipse. The title track also brings the beefy chugs where the guitars boast a strut n’ swagger and the lyrics showcase the London-based band at their darkest. There’s quite a bit of this sort of mid-paced movement, ‘My Obsession’ for example, and although the album lacks any sort of haste, songs such as ‘Immortal’ and ‘Rocquiem’ are a touch more up-tempo. The band really gets the fire in its belly with namesake closer ‘More’ and ‘Spirits Of War’ which impresses particularly in the percussion department. I do wish the production added a layer of grit just to make the whole album less restrained.

More seem quite content to exist within what is mostly mid-tempo meandering; it’s an album which never really catches fire. Less isn’t exactly More (excuse the pun) because Destructor underwhelms, but it’s good to have the band back in some form even if the record doesn’t live up to its title.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share