After NWOBHM lose its strength at the turn of the first to the second half of the 80s, traditional Heavy Metal on UK became again an underground movement, and it seemed that younger bands were trapped into the NWOBHM paradigm and couldn’t leave it aside to explore new musical possibilities. But as time passed by and trends came and went into the sands of time (a touch of history: after NWOBHM and Glam Metal commercial success in the first half of the 80s, Thrash Metal took the place of the first and shared the charts with the second; then came Alternative Rock and threw both back into the underground, where Death Metal and Black Metal were dominating thing for their waves on the 90s, and so on with Melodic Power Metal tendencies and with Gothic Metal ones), bands from UK came with different Heavy Metal models, as heard on this reissue for “Forged in Black”, the first full-length of the Essex-based quintet FORGED IN BLACK.

This reissue, in reality, is the remastering of the band first album. It was released on an independent format back in 2013, so the copies were sold, and the band and its label had the idea of a new release, with a remastering to make things fit on a modern outfit. And Markus Stock (the one who made the remastering) did a fine work, presenting what already existed with a better (and louder) sonority. And this reissue has a new artwork, created by Andy Songhurst. On the band’s music is a slightly different thing from an UK base band: they don’t use the model of music of NWOBHM, but prefers to have a different and modern insight that resembles a lot what is known from acts as SANCTUARY, NEVERMORE and WITHERFELL, so it’s heavy and strong, with precious melodies, but with a modern vibe and some elements inherited from Thrash Metal and US Metal. But pay attention: even in this early stage, the energy unleashed by the quintet and personality (that were starting to be shown) was evident. It’s a good release, and demands a careful listening.

To the older fans, “Reins of Sorrow”, “Bloodstained is the Promise”, “Children of the Flames”, “Accusations of the Innocent”, “The Rapture”, “The Silenced Messenger”, “Fortify or Die”, “The All Seeing Eye”, “The Master in Me”, and “Forged in Black” are presented with the sound improvements promoted by the remastering. On the other hand, the band presents two excellent bonus tracks on this reissue: “The Tide” (a catchy and excellent song with slow tempos and immense weight, with sharp guitars, dramatic vocals and charming backing vocals) and “The Exodus” (a heavier song with charming rhythmic contrast, what means a strong work on bass guitar and drums), and both are the needed justification for having this reissue (so the married ones will not be drubbed by wives. Just kidding).

Again: this reissue of “Forged in Black”(named as “Forged in Black Remastered MMXXIV”) has its own reasons, so no older fans, it represents an opportunity to have the bonus tracks. For you that don’t know FORGED IN BLACK, it’s a very good opportunity to do so.