With an energetic sound and an album cover that would probably give Thomas the Tank Engine nightmares, British rockers BLACK WHISKEY make a splash on their debut record for Rocksector Records, "Heavy Train." The group is comprised of members from across the British Rock and Metal scene, including one-time XENTRIX vocalist Simon Gordon.

To label BLACK WHISKEY a 'bar band' would be to shortchange them as musicians, even though it's not a totally inaccurate term. From the opening notes of "Heavy Train" to its closing seconds, the group perform with a youthful ease and don't try and get too cute with what they're doing, which is playing free-wheeling Rock n' Roll the way it was meant to be played. The discerning listener will, of course, pick out the influence of AC/DC, THIN LIZZY, and fellow Brits UFO, as well as others, but while the band proudly wear their influences on their sleeves, nothing about the music here ever feels contrived.

"Idol Rich" kicks things off in high spirits, and gets down to some solid grooving with the bluesy lick that leads into the first solo. Kev Ingles' leads give just the right amount of fire to each song to make them 'pop,' for sure, and the rhythm section of Mark Parkin and Rich Bannister anchor things down solidly. Elsewhere, the band show the restraint necessary to give mid-tempo numbers like "All Seeing Eye" and "Stone Cold Comfort" room to breathe and Rock all by themselves, while the band get back to their primal, bluesy roots on the sizzling "Hungry for Bullets." The band swing and sway with all the enthusiasm of a group of friends out for a night on the town all the way through to the end of "Can't Stop The Fire."

In a genre that desperately needs some personality from its young guns, it's great to see that the passion for Rock doesn't fade with age. The guys from BLACK WHISKEY play it straight and deliver some high quality, old-school Rock on "Heavy Train," and fans of the genre would do well to give it a spin.