{"id":98024,"date":"2023-01-31T00:00:20","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T00:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=98024"},"modified":"2023-02-20T18:05:11","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T18:05:11","slug":"ep-review-armstrong-gun-struck-with-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/ep-review-armstrong-gun-struck-with-steel\/","title":{"rendered":"ARMSTRONG GUN – Struck With Steel EP (2023) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARMSTRONG GUN
Struck With Steel EP<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSelf-released (2023)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Hot on the heels of last year\u2019s superb self-titled<\/a> debut album, Surrey rockers Armstrong Gun continues its journey whereby old school metal traditions are channelled with further fury and fluidity. Of all the UK heavy metal acts, Armstrong Gun is the act I expect to get the recognition they deserve because this is some serious no frills, no poser heavy rock.<\/p>\n

Last time round my only slight quibble was drummer Lewis Tocker\u2019s vocal delivery which at times I found rather unsuitable and a bit rough around the edges, but it seems he has tweaked his tones so that the three tracks he fronts here \u2013 \u2018Made Of Rock & Steel\u2019, \u2018Ale Gang\u2019 and \u2018Burning The Miles\u2019 \u2013 maintain that punky edge but with more conviction. However, I still prefer bassist Dan Mortimer\u2019s delivery and would rather hear Tocker focus on his drums. But hey, not everyone can be pleased and it\u2019s a detail I put forward previously so it\u2019s no real biggie except that the sound of the band just feels a tad unbalanced with two separate vocalists.<\/p>\n

Musically however, Armstrong Gun is quite the force. The band channel the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal although parts of \u2018Made Of Rock & Steel\u2019 grind like early M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce<\/a>. Everything about Armstrong Gun feels and sounds raucous, energised, and above all, fun. and yet within the rust and discarded bolts and beer cans there is a core of talent which results in some seriously catchy tunes.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ale Gang\u2019 drives with so much attitude and vim, \u2018Love & War\u2019 gallops with a steel and fire, and closer \u2018Heaven\u2019s Gate\u2019 simmers with great, suspenseful effect and then chugs with an almost doomy fashion as Mortimer sends out his commands and barks that chorus.<\/p>\n

Armstrong Gun is the sort of band you\u2019d expect to exist in the early 80s and fade out by 1985. They have that peculiar cult feel to their sound that drifts gleefully between punky rock (\u2018Burning The Miles\u2019) and those already mentioned gloom-laden, organic old metal stomps.<\/p>\n

Throughout this opus I can latch on to Cameron Smith\u2019s crisp, rattling guitar tone and really enjoy the thunderous ride he constructs coupled with Aaron Sharma\u2019s chops on \u2018Love & War\u2019.<\/p>\n

Struck With Steel<\/em> is such an intriguing brew, and when the next full-length does emerge I\u2019ll be interested to see how the vocal duties are shared and whether it succeeds. But for now we have another riotous affair to enjoy, so strap yourself in and take another trip with my favourite UK metal act at the moment.<\/p>\n

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

ARMSTRONG GUNStruck With Steel EP Self-released (2023)Rating: 8\/10 Hot on the heels of last year\u2019s superb self-titled debut album, Surrey rockers Armstrong Gun continues its journey whereby old school metal traditions are channelled with further fury and fluidity. Of all the UK heavy metal acts, Armstrong Gun is the act I expect to get the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4912],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-armstrong-gun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98024","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=98024"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98026,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98024\/revisions\/98026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}