Bolt from the Blue

Ladies and gentlemen we are in front of a band that contains in itself a beautiful portion of Nwobhm. Actually, the band members of Chain Lightning are not famous but this doesn’t bother us and we are going to see why. Chain Lightning were formed by Lin Tremayne Williams in 1988 when he left “Desperate Oates” who released only a single. After various facts happened which I won’t be discussing here and some songs written, Tremayne met up in the beginning of the 90’s with the vocalist Derek Hodd ex Chain Reaction (a very good Heavy Metal band of which we will take an interest very soon, and a band in which Hodd’s vocal performance was amazing, very close to the great Michael Kiske of the 80’s), ex Cloven Hoof (he joined Cloven Hoof when the legendary singer David Potter left but his stay in Lee Payne’s band was short) and ex Panik Attack. This indicates what a great singer Derek Hodd is; a singer that like many others deserved much more luck. Anyway going back to Chain Lightning, they recorded a live Ep titled “Up & Rising” in 1991 with Simon James on the drums and Steff Pitcher on the bass. Simon James was substituted by another ex Panik Attack member, Tim Evans and Steff Pitcher also left. After having recorded in 1992 a mini album Tremayne also left and not long after the band called it a day. Recently Tremayne and Hodd reunited reforming the band with Tim Evans on the drums and Ivan Wellington on the bass. After this short introduction we are now going to talk in details about “Bolt From The Blue”.

We are in front of an HM album compromising songs originally written at the end of the 80’s and beginning of the 90’s. Unfortunately they never managed to release an entire album and we’re going to see why this is a real shame. In “Bolt From The Blue” we find some demos, the songs presented on the mini Lp “Up & Rising of 1991 and a jewel like “Waiting” that was recorded in June 1991.

The opening number is “We are fire” where a charging intro “Iron Maiden” style introduces us to a HM song that lets us understand what material Chain Lightning are made of. Riffs, speed and catchy chorus make this a very captivating song especially for those that will be the lucky ones to see them live (I hope I will be one of those lucky ones). The vocal talent of Derek Hodd also comes to light and he demonstrates to still have a considerable vocal range.

The second track “Lovelies” has a beautiful riff (this is an awesome guitarist!) for a marked song that produces the same great effects of the previous one with the spotlight on Williams’s guitar and Hodd’s voice. The solo is great; to see Williams live has to be amazing.

Third track “I could have loved you”, is a very beautiful ballad with Hodd’s voice not too sweet or dull at all but perfect for this role and Williams’s guitar perfect as usual. Here they demonstrate that beyond the classic English HM they are also capable of writing songs American style of the 80’s and with brilliant results!

“Heartbreak” is characterised by Williams’s riff which gives the track a more Hard Rock direction compared to the others and also the voice is more melodic than usual, with a beautiful fast ending.

5th track “Dirty lovin”, impossible in this case too, not to be possessed by the song for the lovers of 80’s metal. Great chorus and great solo.

6th track “Chain lightning” which starts in 4th gear comes back to more HM sounds compared to the 3 previous tracks with lightning guitars. Another piece that live would be absolutely enthralling.

At the 7th place we find the track titled “Bolt from the blue” and we immediately realise that those rather melodic pieces above don’t reflect the full sound of the band. Here we are in front of a darker and rhythmic HM. Mean riffs with no space for superfluous melodies, the guitar is never as wicked as in this song. Maybe truly the heaviest piece of the entire album and the most epic too.

8th track “Waiting” with a grand vocal performance from Derek Hodd here, I also like the rhythmic part very much. A little different in style from the rest of the album (remember that is not a real album but a collection of demos, and some previously released and some re-mastered for this CD) but real beautiful. Ah, I almost forgot here also the guitar is superlative.

9th track “Some of us”, starts with an arpeggio... but don’t run off (he is telling the audience) because this is a true HM song with the guitar at the top. A bit of Deep Purple, a bit of Iron Maiden and a lot of Chain Lightning!

Finally with “Harvest of fools”, Tim Evans on the drums and Williams on the guitar introduce us to a song that will challenge Hodd’s vocal chords. But Hodd shows to be awesome even here. As I said there are sounds here that wouldn’t be expected after listening to the other songs but this demonstrates the validity and variety of styles of this great unknown band.

Very good also the quality of the audio, like many people know, I am not one of those that put production first (I’m interested in the quality of the content, if there is a good production as well then good if not I am not making a drama of it) but here lies very good production.

Though a superlative work has been done by all members of the band, a special mention goes to the guitarist Jake “Lin Tremayne” Williams (who is also the major composer from the band), a guitarist whose 6 strings passages are reminiscent of masters such as Blackmore and M.Schenker more than once.