True Heavy Nation
Born Again
•
December 3, 2018
BORN AGAIN are the sonic French-quartet who, although still in their infancy are making strides into the world of metal, where their sound may be a heavily influenced affair however they do deliver it with enough style to put a mark of originality in every burst of energy. Their new album on a new label, "True Heavy Nation" is the band's second release in three-years and a follow up to the well-received "Strike With Power", here they take all the elements which make them a force of nature and condense the ten-tracks.
The opener is the hell-bent raging "No Guts No Glory", a title and an approach straight out of the MOTÖRHEAD handbook of power-metal, a triumphant mesh of grinding guitar, pounding bass and that hell-for-leather drum sound. The apocalyptic lyrics are delivered with the snarling of Thierry, the song does not take prisoners it is an onslaught from start to finish. "No retreat from the killing machine, No guts no glory". All this rolls nicely into the Harley-Davidson roar of "Ghost Rider", a continuation of the sound, the intensity of the band with a very catchy guitar riff and the intense conviction in the lyrics make the song an enjoyable rampage of sound, the very pronounced bass run is the motorbike speeding on an open road, quality stuff as they harness the great influences of the past and sculpt it into their creations.
"No Place In Heaven" continues the no-nonsense theme, alongside the strong opener this is another highlight on the album, they are a talented band of musicians , even BORN AGAIN's unique take on the TWISTED SISTER classic "You Can't Stop Rock N' Roll" is a raw assault on the senses forged into their sound and easily mistaken as an original. An instrumental in "Night Of The Shred" which is more interesting than needed, not the strongest track, the vocals are a key feature in each of BORN AGAIN's song delivery and when they are missing a track loses some of its balls, luckily they close the album with the incendiary single edition of "Ghost Rider" which is a more fitting end to this thundering-juggernaut of an album.
It is not a cause of complaint when a band harnesses their influences and welds it into their music, that is exactly what BORN AGAIN have done in "True Heavy Nation", they are continuing the course laid out by the originators of Heavy Metal, their sound is not a copy but a tribute and they are aptly titled as the style of music is born again.
7 / 10
Good
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"True Heavy Nation" Track-listing:
1. No Guts No Glory
2. Ghost Rider
3. King Of Pain
4. Children Of The Storm
5. No Place In Heaven
6. You Can't Stop Rock N' Roll
7. True Heavy Nation
8. Never Give Up
9. Lost In Time
10. Night Of The Living Shred
11. Ghost Rider (single version)
Born Again Lineup:
Chris - Guitars
Pich - Drums
Thierry - Vocals
Christopher - Bass
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