The Almighty

When Kerrang favourites The Almighty split up at the height of their success in 1996 Newtownards-born frontman Ricky Warwick decamped to Dublin to form a new, more indie oriented combo.

Despite "having a laugh and making a racket" as he puts it, Warwick yearned for the good old days when The Almighty toured the world with the likes of The Ramones and Megadeth.

This self-titled comeback affair will doubtless appear like manna from heaven for those Almighty fans who've been pining for their heroes ever since the break-up.

This is classic Almighty - from eardrum puncturing beginning to decibel pumping end. From the opener, 'Broken Machine', to the final track there's just no let up in the frenetically paced barrage of buzzsaw guitars, growling vocals and thundering drums.

If anything, they're even harder edged than before with bone rattling cuts such as 'I'm In Love With Revenge' and 'For Fucks' Sake' pushing the meters into the red. Heaviest of them all is arguably 'La Chispa De La Muerte', which should account for more than a few sore heads among the faithful.

It's not total rifferama however and 'Big Black Automatic' possesses enough pop sensibility to appeal to a wider audience and could conceivably become an anthem of sorts, given the right push.

That aside, this is strictly one for the fans