Artist: Raven 
   Title: Walk Through Fire
   Label: SPV / Steamhammer

When I was just a little metal dude and the whole NWOBHM was taking over the world by storm, one band that to come out of that scene that always had a special place in my heart were local heroes Raven.

Yes the original Gallagher brothers were rocking up a storm with their debut album 'Rock Until You Drop' and helped put Newcastle on the metal map.  The band have been away from the metal scene for quite some time as tragedy struck when a wall collapsed on Mark crushing his legs in 2001.  Subsequently the band went into a prolonged hiatus so Mark could rehabilitate, and it wasn’t until 2008 when the band got back together to play live.  Such was the reaction of the bands fans to their return that the band started writing again for their new album ‘Walk Through Fire’, which sees the band return with that big fast paced Heavy Metal that made the band the legends they are today.

It may have been 29 years since 'Rock Until You Drop' was released but this hasn’t slowed the band down any, the full on riff fuelled metal of old is once again firing on all six cylinders.  As the album opens up proper after the intro with ‘Against The Grain’, straight away John’s unmistakable vocals smash through the rip snorting riff of Mark, and with Joe Hasselvander powering through on the drums, this one truly marks the return of the band.

This album continues to gather pace as each ball busting metal attack feed the Raven fire, with the likes of 'Breaking Down’, the full on title track ‘Walk Through Fire’ and the powerhouse old school metaller ‘Bulldozer’.

The album also contains a couple of surprises along the way with 13 superb slices of Raven-lunacy as only this trio can produce.  There's an excellent cover version of the Montrose classic ‘Space Station #5’, a track that was made for a Metal revamp and the Gallagher’s do it proud, before the album closes with the bands own tribute to Elvis with a live version of ‘The King’, which rounds up a great return for one of the most underrated Speed Metal bands of all time.  So be prepared to 'Bring The Hammer Down' with a 'Crash Bang Wallop' once more because the boys from are back and are taking no prisoners.    

Tracklisting:

1. Intro
2. Against The Grain
3. Breaking You Down
4. Under Your Paper
5. Walk Through Fire
6. Bulldozer
7. Long Day's Journey
8. Trainwreck
9. Grip
10. Running Around In Circles
11. Hard Road
12. Armaggedon (The Beginning)
13. Attitude
14. Space Station
15. The King (Live - Bonus Track) 

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