Age of Steel

Cloven Hoof has had a weird history, with all the members except for bassist Lee Payne constantly rotating in and out for the past 40 years. This, understandably, has created a very disjointed experience among all of their albums, from the rollicking and raw debut to the polished epic A Sultan’s Ransom and finally to the chugging, modern power metal of their outstanding Who Mourns for the Morning Star? from a few years back. This new one Age of Steel sees them continuing on with Aska singer George Call, and I’m glad – his gritty, powerful voice along with Payne’s love-letter to 50 years of heavy metal in the form of his songwriting is just what I need some days.

This is pretty much in the general mode of old Maiden, with high-flying guitar acrobatics, Payne’s crunchy bass work and battle-ready drums forming a tapestry for Call to sneer and wail over. There’s a shitload of confidence here, and the band always sounds badass and pissed off. Payne has also incorporated a fair amount of modern power metal into the sound – they don’t sound like Stratovarius or anything, but the sound has some orchestral flourishes and a general clear, polished style that a lot of old bands don’t seem to care about trying for. So you get a kind of hybrid of the classic and new styles, and it comes off as forward-thinking.

I’d say the songs on this one are slightly less complex than on Morning Star, but not measuring up to an album like that isn’t the worst thing ever. Where this one succeeds is through the bravado and gusto. This is loud, bombastic shit and they sell everything with such conviction. Opener “Bathory” is some of the most intense trad metal since Herman Frank’s debut years and years ago, and “Apathy,” “Touch the Rainbow” and “Victims of the Furies” are all loud, proud and full of vigor. And, OK, “Alderley Edge” rips off Maiden’s “Seventh Son” title track in a shameless way. But I can’t bring myself to really let that bother me.

It’s telling that Cloven Hoof has remained such a force to be reckoned with despite all the changes in lineup – Payne is a fucking trooper. And really, when you listen to the intricate, involved songwriting, you can hear the thread of how Payne has kept a fairly consistent backbone to the sound, even despite changing his style over the decades. Age of Steel is a fun fucking album. Crank it up on the highway sometime.