{"id":23904,"date":"2014-11-23T00:00:56","date_gmt":"2014-11-23T00:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=23904"},"modified":"2015-02-12T22:02:34","modified_gmt":"2015-02-12T22:02:34","slug":"ep-review-nightblade-crisis-has-no-prejudice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/ep-review-nightblade-crisis-has-no-prejudice\/","title":{"rendered":"NIGHTBLADE – Crisis Has No Prejudice EP (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

NIGHTBLADE
Crisis Has No Prejudice EP<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSelf-released (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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In 2013 I was presented with Nightblade\u2019s sophomore outing Closer To The Threshold<\/em><\/a>. For me, it was a hard rocking opus harkening back to the glory days of the original New Wave Of British Heavy Metal invasion.<\/p>\n

Although numerous current metal acts are following the same trends and attempting revival, there was something about Nightblade\u2019s opus that set it apart. Maybe it was Dave Parrish\u2019s steely guitar sound or Mark Crosby\u2019s sincere vocal whine? Whatever the case, there seemed to be some secret ingredient which enabled the platter to stand out from the crowd.<\/p>\n

When a band \u2013 especially a UK band \u2013 releases a follow-up, there\u2019s always that worry that after a few years on the scene they may start to run out of ideas or begin to dredge up well-trodden paths to the point of bland, stale mimicry. I always had a touch of faith in these warhorses from the Midlands, though. After all, it\u2019s the same countryside that spawned rock giants Black Sabbath<\/a> and Judas Priest, and while I\u2019m not yet ready to slot Nightblade into that same mercurial context the quartet for me remains one of Britain\u2019s best heavy metal outfits.<\/p>\n

Crisis Has No Prejudice<\/em> will no doubt have you gagging for more Nightblade, because this EP only offers up three tracks. As far as I\u2019m aware this trio of songs seems to me to be an exercise for the new line-up \u2013 which now features bassist Jacko and drummer Eddie Neale, who have been drafted in to replace Bill Fitzsimmons and Richard Lawley respectively.<\/p>\n

What hasn\u2019t changed is the same energetic gallop mind, and although there\u2019s no real straying from that old school metal fizz, Nightblade does this style of revival metal better than most. I\u2019d much rather hear something heavily inspired by, say, old Judas Priest, Metallica and Iron Maiden if done right than something so bereft of character which seems to be the main quip I have about many current British acts.<\/p>\n

With Nightblade we find a band serving up an extremely authentic dose of old school heavy rock, and at the helm is Mr. Crosby whose warble exists like some lower end Rob Halford (Judas Priest), but his denim \u2019n\u2019 leather groans are a perfect fit for the metallic sheen of Dave Parrish\u2019s devilish guitar.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a no frills metal attack that at first conjures up images of early 80s fist-pumping oily rock in the form of \u2018Poison Women\u2019, but where so many bands lack a catchy hook or killer chorus, Nightblade offer both \u2013 the guitar fizzes, the bass trundles and the drum is a constant reminder us to why us Brits do metal best, and with Mark Crosby at the helm there is no way that such a tight unit could fail. \u201cTemperature is rising\u201d<\/em> warns Crosby, and we\u2019re off into the dark heart of Judas Priest\u2019s majestic legacy, and when that killer lead comes sizzling in like a spiralling firework we\u2019re thrown into that metallic and yet familiar web of Britishness, and we just can\u2019t knock the cool caress of steel.<\/p>\n

Next up is the title track, which begins with an ominous drum nod and the sort of dungeon-styled atmosphere that would\u2019ve frightened us kids all those foggy decades ago. The chugging riff means that the track simmers with menace, but oddly this dark-edged tune has more in common with the satanic dabbling of Mercyful Fate; Crosby\u2019s tones are perfect for summoning nocturnal demons while the mid-tempo pace set by his comrades leads us further into the metal mire.<\/p>\n

For me, \u2018Crisis Has No Prejudice\u2019 is the standout track of three, but saying that it\u2019s difficult to separate such hefty contenders for the throne, because while the title track offers up that Goth-tinged traipse, \u2018To No Avail\u2019 oozes careering melody. With that dashing guitar and pacey drum, Nightblade becomes a more versatile beast with Crosby experimenting with his vocals; this time the words roll off the tongue in a devilish and devious manner. It\u2019s the sort of rollicking and relentless sound that should get heads banging in tandem, and with some cool drum rolls and again another killer lead, \u2018To No Avail\u2019 again nods at that Maiden-esque charm. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad that Nightblade has released this EP, because it keeps the combo hot on our lips as we wait for the next full-length instalment. There are some really good British heavy metal bands around at the moment, and Crisis Has No Prejudice<\/em> showcases the further talents of a combo that give you the feeling that they\u2019ve been doing this since the halcyon days. If this EP had been released in the early 80s, we\u2019d probably still be heaping praise upon it now. The harsh reality of course is that Nightblade may still struggle to push their way through the swamps of mediocrity, but with two albums and this EP now under their belt I see no reason why they can\u2019t go all the way to becoming one of Britain\u2019s all-time greats. Nightblade just gets better and better.<\/p>\n

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

NIGHTBLADECrisis Has No Prejudice EP Self-released (2014)Rating: 8.5\/10 In 2013 I was presented with Nightblade\u2019s sophomore outing Closer To The Threshold. For me, it was a hard rocking opus harkening back to the glory days of the original New Wave Of British Heavy Metal invasion. Although numerous current metal acts are following the same trends […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[657],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nightblade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23904","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=23904"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23908,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23904\/revisions\/23908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}