Blaze Bayley - War Within Me
Release date 9th April 2021
Album review by; Myk
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The former Wolfsbane and Maiden vocalist is back with his 11th solo release ‘War Within Me’ kicking off like a freight train with thundering drums before settling into a frenetic pace with the vocal delivery familiar from his previous Iron Maiden output. Other similarities are evident throughout however Blaze has his own style which is fast and heavy but also with a certain amount of finesse.
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Next up ‘303’ a nod to the RAF Polish WWII squadron continues at a slightly slower pace, with some nice guitar work before ‘Warrior’ starts off with a slow understated intro before exploding into life with more crunching guitars.
‘Pull Yourself Up’ continues in a similar vein with some great vocals lifting the song up along with some soaring guitars, slowing down briefly before building back up for the ending. Tortured guitars and a great riff start ‘Witches Night’ before it settles into a familiar pattern of great riffs and vocal delivery. ’18 Flights’ is another along similar lines, good but lacking a bit of variety.
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‘The Dream of Alan Turing’ gives us an uninspiring tune with a high brow title followed by another with ‘The Power of Nikola Tesla’ with a Maidenesque intro and catchy sing-along chorus upping the tempo and dragging the album out of a middle slump.
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Next up ‘The Unstoppable Stephen Hawking’ lulls you with a slow intro before picking up speed with more catchy riffs and vocals to match. The final number ‘Every Storm Ends’ again begins slowly and builds up into a slower epic.
Overall this is a good enjoyable album but loses something in the middle with a couple of numbers lacking any real punch before picking up and redeeming itself.
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4/5
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Album ‘War Within Me’ pre-order available at;
Blaze Bayley are;
Blaze Bayley – vocals
Chris Appleton – guitars, backing vocals
Karl Schramm – bass, backing vocals
Martin McNee – drums
Social Media Links;
https://www.facebook.com/officialblazebayley/
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