Thirty-two years after releasing their debut single ‘Aluminium Lady’, new wave of British heavy metal obscurists Megaton finally get round to releasing a debut longplayer. Difficult first album syndrome, anyone?
More theatrical than the filthy denim, stale ale, motorbike grease and studded-fist-punch usually associated with the NWOBHM, Megaton combine the hard, double-edged-riffing of Judas Priest, the idiosyncrasies of Deep Switch, the proggy hard rock flourishes of Deep Purple and the punkish power of Tank, to create a collection of headbanging tunes with bags of attitude, verve and intelligence. ‘Don’t Fall Out’ is a full throttle wheels-of-steel burn – head down, horns up. ‘Woman’ is all exaggerated sleaze (imagine Arthur Brown fronting Whitesnake), whilst ‘Third Rate Fantasy’ brings funky rhythm, brash brass and psychedelic keyboards together for a metal showtune routine. Breathless, reckless and filled to the brim with exuberant adventure, this, you might say is worth the wait!