In 1984 Kerrang! featured a review that stated Perth HM band BLACK ALICE was the next best thing to come out of Aussie since AC/DC. It was a huge wrap. The review was of the band's debut album Endangered Species. Produced by Gary Keady and Steve James it was released by StreetTunes UK and then later the same year in Australia by Big Island Records. It subsequently went on to become a cult classic.

The story that followed is equally as fascinating as the album. After Endangered Species was released the band split up for personal reasons. Later in 1985 Gary Keady tried his hand at writing and directing a short film for cinema release called Knightmare, in which he starred the former lead singer of BLACK ALICE, Rob Hartley. Rob's incredible vocals and the strange story of the short film soon attracted interest in a feature film version that Gary Keady went on to write.

Two years later in 1987, Gary Keady and Rob Hartley put together version two of BLACK ALICE, with the original guitarist Jamie Page and the addition of Scotty Johnston on kit and Andy Cichon on bass. Armed with a bunch of new songs they went into a Sydney recording studio with previous producers Gary Keady and Steve James and came out with the album Sons of Steel. Later that year cameras rolled on the Aussie science fiction heavy metal musical motion picture Sons of Steel starring Rob Hartley and Jeff Duff written and directed by Gary Keady. The movie was distributed in 32 countries and just like Endangered Species became a HM cult classic. The album of BLACK ALICE tracks featured in the movie was released in Australia only in 1988.

Thirty years later: In September 2018 Puresteel Records will re-release Endangered Species with bonus tracks, and then in October they will release the Sons of Steel album worldwide for the very first time. These are the only two albums ever recorded by BLACK ALICE. At the same time USA film distributor Phantom Pain Films will release for the first time on DVD and Blu-ray the HM sci fi movie Sons of Steel starring Rob Hartley and Jeff Duff, written and directed by Gary Keady.

Now that might sound like an awesome amount of things spawned from the recording in 1983 of a heavy metal band from Perth, Western Australia. A band originally called GYPSY and later renamed BLACK ALICE, a title that now lives on as the name of the lead character played by Rob Hartley in the movie Sons of Steel ! but there's a shit-load more. Gary Keady has now written a heavy metal time travel saga called Sons of Steel and book 1 of the series will also be launched in September this year. So far he has written five books in the series and still the time travelling heavy metaller rages on saving the world and vanquishing all that is evil and unjust.

Check it out on the new official website www.sonsofsteel.rocks

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Kyle Scott
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