Now, these guys need no introduction, do they? A legendary name in the NWOBHM wave, with two fantastic early albums like the self-titled (1983) and the following masterpiece Night Of The Blade (1984). Unfortunately, Tokyo Blade have fallen victim to many line-up changes, strained relationships between band members and a poor choice of moment to reunite in the mid-nineties. In fact, none of the six following albums managed to impress, with some of them having too little in common with the old, classic sound.
However, 2017 was a crucial moment, because, to my utter surprise, Tokyo Blade reunited in their full classic line-up from the aforementioned two classics and not only that but released three quite decent albums since. It was a new fresh start for this line-up and these last three albums showed that even if it was sometimes hard to live up to expectations, the old fire was still burning. The more than appropriately titled in this case Time Is The Fire, the band’s twelfth album and fourth consecutive in this line-up, will be released early next year and shows Tokyo Blade finally feel more than comfortable being themselves. This is a double album, containing 14 new tracks clocking in at nearly 74 minutes. Sounds ambitious and it actually is.
Feeding The Rat and early single Moth To The Fire start in the familiar vein of the last few albums, energetic hard rock tunes with a muscular sound and nice melodies. Alan Marsh sounds really good once again and so is the rhythm section of Pierce and Wrighton. This more straightforward, rocking style is also employed in songs such as The Devil In You, Soldier On and The Six Hundred, which are very competent and well performed, but nothing spectacular or truly memorable. The majority of the songs on the other hand are something else and so much jawdroppingly good that I couldn’t believe we are talking about the same band. Man On The Stair is the first in a long row of stellar songs, setting a dark, ominous mood and tons of atmosphere, almost cinematic in approach. Are You Happy Now is very heavy, with a fantastic guitar solo and then The Enemy Within is even better – a true metal masterpiece, instantly memorable, with a stadium-calling chorus and verses. The brooding, heavy mid-tempo riffs of these songs are present in an equally masterful presentation in Don’t Bleed Over Me and the final epic Ramesses, which is easily among the best songs Blade have ever recorded. The guitar work and solos in these songs is nothing short of amazing so hats off to Boulton and Wiggins.
We Burn serves as the album’s title track (see the chorus) and is an encapsulation of praise I’ve come up with so far in this review. This is Tokyo Blade we know and love from the early Eighties, yet different, updated to the new millennium and dare I say even better at times. If they’ve trimmed the “fat” and selected the best songs for a 50-minute album, then Time Is The Fire this could stand as Tokyo Blade’s best ever release and a crowning achievement in their discography. Now, in this form and presentation, it still is easily their best for the last 40 years and a true return to form. Well done, guys, well done!
8,5/10
Time Is The Fire will be out on January 17th and you can order it from HERE
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