If you are talking about t a band that has been around for ages, the one that most prople do not think of from the start is CLOVEN HOOF. But, they did start life in 1979 and they might never have entered the Premier League of NWOBHM, but they were there nevertheless. And with the vast amount of releases being thrown at us at the time, it resulted in them having to wait to release their debut album “Cloven Hoof” until 1984, but when it was released it came with a bang, at least for the connoisseurs amongst us. The next two albums, “Dominator”(1988) ansd “A Sultan's Ransom” (1989) were also of a very high quality, but couldn't prevent the disbanding of CLOVEN HOOF in 1990.

It didn't happen until eleven years later (2001) that the band was restarted, with most of the members that quit in 1990. But, as it goes, after so many years the lineup has changed multiple times, leaving only Lee Payne left as original member. Is that a problem? No way, as all the instrumentalists playing in CLOVEN HOOF are more than capable of playing at a high level. What is extra nice (or should I say special?) about the current album “Heathen Cross” is the fact that the current singer is no-one less than JAG PANZER frontman Harry (The Tyrant) Conklin. There is no denying that this man brings an exgtra dimension to the music of CLOVEN HOOF. And now we are on that subject, I can only say that after so many years the band is still able to write NWOBHM songs that have depth, variety, many dimensions and most importantly, a lot of class and quality.

This makes listening to “Heathen Cross” into a very surprising one. And I do mean that in a positive way. You will hear all kinds of influences flying by when you least expect them, but they will only add to the experience. As for the words sung, as always with Harry (The Tyrant) Conklin, you will have no problem understanding them, as all is done in plain and simple English. The only quirk I have is that I find the lyrics rather simplistic. I would have liked them to match the depth of the music. Maybe I have been aiming too high with this CLOVEN HOOF album? I don't htrink so, because a band that is releasing it's eleventh album, eighth since regrouping, should be expected to know what they are doing and give us results accordingly. But I can only state the fact that I do like “Heathen Cross”. CLOVEN HOOF have done well, again.