The IRON MAIDEN albums with Bayley on the vocals were a major disappointment for me, taking into account his past works with WOLFSBANE. Blaze also failed to fit to the MAIDEN machine during the touring days giving the impression that he was the result of a badly made decision. When Dickinson decided to return, Blaze took advantage of his publicity growth and formed BLAZE. Despite my initial disappointment I checked his debut album and I was simply amazed! This guy proved that he has composing skills and still a very good and powerful voice that just did not work with MAIDEN.
After the also good Tenth Dimension the amiable British singer went through some really rough personal times that gravely endangered his career. Fortunately, he made it through and channeled all the bad emotions through his third studio release Blood And Belief that to my ears was the best and strongest one. Well, the problems were over yet and Bayley had to form a brand new lineup and change the band's name from BLAZE to BLAZE BAYLEY. So, after all of these changes and misshapes we have the forth album with an excellent cover artwork and the biographical (?) title The Man Who Would Not Die.
Blaze has done it again! He made another step further making a really solid album that sounds heavier than his previous works. His voice is full of passion, anger and determination proving for the second time that he is seeking peace of mind through music. Songs like The Man Who Wouldn't Die with the excellent and compact guitar rhythm or Waiting For My Life To Begin which is closer to his past works, are here to underline and prove my saying. Most of the album is guitar based with catchy riffs and solos, twin melodies and the trademark clean guitar breaks. The mixing and production done by Blaze and the ex-WOLFSBANE guitarist Jase Edwards have brought the guitars in the front with additional distortion adding more points to the overall heaviness. The average tempo of the album can be described as fast having as an arrowhead Robot and Samurai that could bring to mind the MAIDEN days with the bass guitar intro.
This album is a strong statement from Blaze who shouts I am still here with a collection of songs full of energy and raw power. I am glad that Blaze is back!