REVIEW: Lords of the Sun – Hammerhead

First off, let me state that this music is right in my comfort zone.

The band? Well if you’ve been to just about any festival in Cumbria in the last 25 years you’ll have heard at least some of these guys in one band or another.

Skunk, Slagbank, 5 and Dangerous, among the most popular although Buzz also appears as a solo artist and has a huge repertoire of songs….

As bands go, few have been on the go as long as Hammerhead, formed in the late 70s as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal alongside bands like Saxon, Venom, Tyger of Pan Tang. But they never got the attention they deserved and eventually folded in 1986.

In 2005, the band reformed and released Headonizm followed in 2015 by the critically acclaimed The Sin Eater. Songwriting for Lords of the Sun started after the release of The Sin Eater but it has taken a while for the album to be completed and released.

It was worth the wait!

Waiting for the Daisies opens the album with a short punchy number that lyrically immediately reminds me of Iron Maiden, both The Trooper and Flash of the Blade come to my mind.

It has a definite militaristic feel about it, although it was apparently inspired by guitarist Brian Hodgson waiting for the daisies in his lawn to open up one morning so he could cut his grass.

We then fall into the rich depths of Lords of the Sun – all four parts and 24 minutes of proggy metal bliss.

This song really does have it all, reminiscent of Wishbone Ash, Led Zeppelin, Rainbow and Black Sabbath with hints of Pink Floyd thrown in. It is an epic composition and a masterpiece of writing and composition.

Faithful Heart and Crimson Tide complete the album, both as good as their predecessors and classic NWOBHM sound but by no means boring or old.

In this latest release Hammerhead manage to keep the sound of a classic genre or two, British Metal at its best with a good mix of prog through there as well while managing to keep it sounding fresh and new.

The bonus tracks really are a bonus in this case, all too often they sound like they were recorded live from the back row on a smartphone in someone’s pocket.

Here we have two new songs – Tears like Rain (For LJ) and Cry as I Fall (Bitter Harvest) – both excellent, and Tears like Rain really shows off just how versatile they are musically and Pecker’s vocals really shine. Then there are three demo versions of songs on the album, all as good as their final versions.

There is a mention that this may be the last album from Hammerhead. It is a fantastic album to bow out with but I sincerely hope it’s not true.

Some musicians seem to hit a level they are happy with and stay there releasing new material that could be mistaken for anything on the last four albums, but Hammerhead still seem to be getting better.

Even after seeing and hearing them play for over 20 years this feels like another step from The Sin Eater, as good as it is, and I would love to hear what could be next, as long as it’s not another eight years!

Seriously, look them up and find this album, it is available through Amazon and if you find them playing live go and see them. This is one of my favourite albums of 2023.