I Am His Voice

Brian Ross has been a busy man lately: he just released the excellent album "Earth Infernal" with Satan in April, and here comes the new single from the Blitzkrieg band he leads. "I Am His Voice" has been released thanks to Mighty Music only in digital format. Is it a harbinger of something bigger? No one knows yet. But let's assume for a moment that it is - that this single is indeed the first announcement of a new album from this iconic group. Does it fulfil its purpose? Does it make us want more?

The title track is kept at a medium tempo (it slows down for a while later on, though) and there is something going on all the time: not only do we have an interesting, rather complex main riff, but also nice guitar embellishments in the background. Ross sings great in "I Am His Voice": he confidently delivers the stanzas, which are nicely combined with a kind of chorus. In addition, there is a catchy section after the solo, sounding as if it was created to be sung together with the audience, and an equally melodic ending. An enjoyable composition, although I was more impressed by the Satan singles announcing "Earth Infernal".

The second composition on the single is "Pull the Trigger" in a live version. The original track was released in 1985 on a split with Venom, while here we get material recorded just before the first Covid hit (unfortunately the exact date is not given in the press release). What we have is classically played heavy metal driven by simple, head-drilling riff. The band is flawless (there is even a duelling solo), Brian is very good, but unfortunately the quality is... not that great. The track is noticeably quieter than "I Am His Voice", and also one of the guitars gets lost somewhere in the background. As a bonus track for the main course it works quite alright, but a concert album in this quality I would run down from top to bottom.

For the time being, the band is silent on a follow-up to "Judge Not!", released in 2018, and the publisher itself is also reluctant to reveal whether "I Am His Voice" is anything more than proof that Blitzkrieg is alive. The single may not break the spine, but it is nevertheless a piece of good and not at all archaic-sounding heavy metal. I'd love to hear what else Brian Ross' beloved child has to say. Let's just hope this baby gets cuter because the cover of this single is downright ugly.

Originally written for www.metalside.pl