Chained and Desperate

Back in the early eighties, we US metal pups thought of UK label Ebony as a closing house for the least respectable elements of the NWOBHM, preferring to hunt down releases from the more respected Neat label (Venom, Raven, Atomkraft, Blitzkrieg). But as the years have passed, I look back on many of the Ebony bands with a different take on things, as many of them were damn good (especially Preyer, Samurai and Hammer) and often heavier in content than many other UK exports. Chateaux is one of them, and while I really couldn’t tell you what inspired their odd moniker, their debut album, Chained And Desperate, is one seriously heavy piece of British metal history.

Two things really gab you by your leather lapels right off the bat: the guitar sound is uniformly nasty in a manner recalling Motley Crue’s Shout At The Devil, but in a more energetic guise. Firstly, Tim Broughton kicks serious posterior in both his snarling rhythm sounds and aggressive soloing. Secondly, the drums are pushed right into your cranium, boasting a seriously frantic performance from Andre Baylis. This leaves singer Steve Grimmett (later of Grim Reaper and others) to lay his beefy tones all over highly-charged tracks like “Burn Out At Dawn” and the killer title track.

Even boasting a bargain basement level, but endearing “ballad” in the slow and pulsing “The Dawn Surrendered”, Chained And Desperate is easily one of the best products Ebony ever blessed us with, and while too late to achieve NWOBHM headlining status, it helps close out the scene’s glory days in awesome style.