{"id":15534,"date":"2013-12-06T00:00:14","date_gmt":"2013-12-06T00:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=15534"},"modified":"2017-08-04T12:17:43","modified_gmt":"2017-08-04T12:17:43","slug":"album-review-salem-forgotten-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-salem-forgotten-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"SALEM – Forgotten Dreams (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SALEM
Forgotten Dreams<\/strong><\/span>
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\nPure Rock (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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With the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal getting a big revival boost I\u2019m still sceptical in the most part of this fad, but occasionally some bands do emerge with enough class to rise above the derivative. Salem are a British troupe who conjure the bombastic splendour of denim clad Saxon and the main reason it works is because these guys are authentic, having spent the early 80s spewing out a small batch of demos before disappearing off the face of the planet.<\/p>\n

Forgotten Dreams<\/em> is the third release following on from 2010\u2019s In The Beginning…<\/em> compilation and the X-Rated<\/em> EP from earlier in 2013, but it\u2019s good to have them back so soon. After all, we\u2019ve waited long enough since those fiery demos.<\/p>\n

The band consists of vocalist Simon Saxby, guitarists Paul Macnamara and Mark Allison, with bassist Adrian Jenkinson and drummer Paul Mendham propping up the rear-guard.<\/p>\n

Salem doesn\u2019t offer anything new but the 12 tracks on offer are expertly crafted, as one would expect from seasoned veterans within their chosen field. This is, as the record label touts, \u201cpure rock\u201d which is true to its heart, boasting a rigid spine of bass, drums and guitars which provide the perfect backdrop for those deadly serious vocals which at times flirt with that Biff Byford (Saxon) type of oily angst.<\/p>\n

The album opener \u2013 the title track \u2013 really sets the tone for this opus, and with those plodding riffs and hard drums it evokes images of Angel Witch, Grim Reaper, Saxon and several other armoured-plated bands as it soars into the gang-chant chorus.<\/p>\n

The greatest quality of this record however is the menace, mainly evoked through those leathery riffs and Saxby\u2019s vocals. This again is evident on the \u2018Ask The Lonely\u2019 which, just like the title track, begins with intent before becoming an upbeat rocker with some intriguing, more measured slower segments.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere on the record the Hull-based quintet rattle through the superb \u2018High Stakes\u2019, which melts together classic Iron Maiden with even a sprig of Whitesnake, while \u2018The Heart Is Mine\u2019 is a classic ballad. But if it\u2019s fire and meat you\u2019re after then check out the driving force of \u2018X-Rated\u2019 which hints at Judas Priest at their most convincing. However, pick any track at random and you\u2019ll be drawn into this hard rock chamber \u2013 the sort of place that exists on its influences, ranging from Deep Purple, Black Sabbath<\/a> to even modern meanderings. But right through it you\u2019ll find an iron spine that refuses to give as each song acts as an impenetrable fortress.<\/p>\n

Forgotten Dreams<\/em> is a simple record that gives us a great insight as to why those original NWOBHM acts were so revered and still are to this day, and it\u2019s great to have these guys back where they belong. <\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SALEMForgotten Dreams Pure Rock (2013)Rating: 8\/10 With the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal getting a big revival boost I\u2019m still sceptical in the most part of this fad, but occasionally some bands do emerge with enough class to rise above the derivative. Salem are a British troupe who conjure the bombastic splendour of denim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,3590],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-salem-uk-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15534"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15539,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15534\/revisions\/15539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}