I may have come across some great Black Metal, Hardcore, Death or Thrash releases lately but FIREBIRD are back with a brand new album and everything else seems too small to be compared to this UK power trio. If you are already aware of this band, then go ahead and keep reading. If not, close this page immediately, do your homework and when you feel some pure Rock & Roll energy through your veins you can return to read the rest of this text.

Fuck! I really don't know what to write when I happen to review such titans (because for me these guys are real Rock titans)! It seems that Bill Steer found some time out of Grind heroes CARCASS to concentrate on his hard rocking love FIREBIRD. The British trio, a steady and important member of Lee Dorian's Rise Above Records, prepared and now unleashes its fifth full-length studio album simply entitled Grand Union.

As their label correctly - in my humble opinion - says, nowadays we are used to hear people describing bands as The New ZEPPELIN, The New AC/DC and stuff like that. The good thing is that FIREBIRD don't need such shitty tags for the flaming Hard Rock. There is no weird Doom, trippy Stoner or other strange stuff, this is pure angry Hard Rock music filled with thunderous guitars, a groovy as hell bass, Ludwig's incredible drumming (at last an album with a natural drum sound) and Steer's drunken bluesy vocals. Here we also have three magnificent covers of classic Blues singers with Four Day Creep being amazingly executed by the band (but more on a HUMBLE PIE style cover). Thumbs up for the production too, which gives the sound a clean sound while keeping a vintage atmosphere with the dirty guitars and the pounding drums.

This is what we need ladies and gentlemen. In times when bands try to play as fast and technical as possible, this power trio proves that simple music is still an all time favourite for every rocker and metalhead. Congratulations guys! You probably released one of the best 5 albums for 2009 (and we still have a long way until December).