Lightning to the Nations 2020

I could hyperbole about how this is the worst (or second worst) thing that 2020 brought us but I think, as bad as I consider this album to be, it would be disproportionate. I'm not aware of the reasons why this re-recording exists, I don't know if it has to do with the rights to the original album, which wouldn't surprise me. All I know is that to be faced with the task of re-recording one of the greatest NWOBHM classics 40 years later and trying to capture even a tiny part of the essence is a titanic task. And maybe, maybe this was done with the best intentions in the world and not as a money grab, but I find it truly terrifying the idea that someone young and new to metal, when they hear about Lightning to the Nations, this is the version they hear. Because as well intentioned as it may be, the fact that to this day this is the only version of the album that can be heard on digital platforms, is truly an act against the band's legacy.

As I have already said, to recover the original spark of such an important and influential album, whose original version is still a classic, is something incredibly difficult, and from the beginning of the album you feel that it is going to be an impossible task, the sound of the album is extremely clean and digital, losing all the garage energy that the original output had, the tuning of the guitars is heavier but it is not a detail that changes the flow of the songs, what does change it, and for the worse, is the new vocalist and the mix of the bass that is completely missing when this was one of the strongest and most prominent points of the original work. The latter is the fault of the worst practices of modern soulless productions that abound especially among mainstream metal bands (with a few exceptions). The latter is not directly anyone's fault, Rasmus Bom Andersen has had the very difficult challenge to face, and unfortunately he has not been up to the level, to a certain extent his performance is adequate for the sound that is being executed in this re-recording, but neither his tone nor his style suits the mood of these songs, and when compared to the performance of the legendary Sean Harris there is simply no way to measure up to his performance.

But the main problem I have with this work, is that it just doesn't seem to understand the original material. Why else would they cut the middle section of "Sucking my Love" and cut it by two minutes? Why would they give the intro of "Am I Evil" a reverb that seems to want to give the song an epic feel when the original had a much more sinister tone with its total simplicity? Why did they try to make "It's Electric" heavier and less easy going? My only answer is that Diamond Head wanted to play heavier than they really know how to be and above all forgetting where these songs come from. Diamond Head's debut, although temporarily belonging to the eighties, is composed of songs that were written in the seventies with very broad influences as far as metal and rock and roll are concerned, the original Lightning to the Nations was an album that served to show the extreme of heavy metal, but never forgetting its roots. On this re-recording the same cannot be said, all the songs sound the identical, a false attempt at heaviness that ends up being redundant and sometimes even ridiculous.

The album ends with four covers, the first one is to Metallica, and I have to admit that it is quite nice to see how the influential band shows respect to that band that inspired them so much, and it is also in this song when the production makes sense, this sound is much more suitable to play a Metallica song than a Diamond Head one, Rasmus also seems much more comfortable playing James Hetfield's raspy yet melodic performance, so as sad as it may seem, this is the highlight of the album. Next come covers of Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest and Deep Purple, since they couldn't show the influence of these bands in the songs as they did on the original album this time they have had to resort to playing their songs. Once again putting Rasmus in a tremendously complicated situation, if you already hear him suffering while performing Sean Harris' songs, having to fill in for Robert Plant and Rob Halford's performances already seems like bullying at this point. I'm not a big fan of these covers, and besides, ending the album this way next to all the previous disaster makes you feel more like you've been listening to a concert of a non-energetic Diamond Head tribute band.

I guess most people will be smart and when they want to listen to Lightning to the Nations they won't turn to this album or at any rate they won't judge the original negatively because of how they feel about this one, but if by any chance anyone reading this has decided based on this 2020 re-recording not to give the original album a chance just because of what they have heard with this one, I implore them not to do that and actually listen to the original, as this one doesn't even show 1% of all the potential that the authentic Lightning to the Nations has.

Nope. Nope. Nope. This is… EASILY… the second worse thing to have come out of 2020. After Coronavirus, that is. I was curious about it… for the two minutes that the “I am Evil” intro lasts. When I listened to the main riffs and vocals, yeesh! I swear I didn't know if I'd laugh or cry. I actually farted in its general direction, as instructed by John Cleese. This is EXACTLY as if Disturbed had chosen to cover the greatest 1980 metal release in existence (with apologies to Heaven and Hell by Dio and co.), Lightning to the Nations by the ill-fated but incredible seminal Diamond Head. Funny thing… the album's artist IS Diamond Head. Lead guitarist Brian Tatler is the only remaining link to that once significant outfit, with current frontman Rasmus Bom Anderse, Diamond Head's third studio vocalist, already in the band for several years. Now, I've listened to Diamond Head previous two releases with the Danish Andersen at the helm, and they were quite enjoyable pieces of modernized heavy metal, with almost nothing in common to the band's 80s material, save for Tatler's vintage metal playing style. But this… this is an UTTERLY unnecessary re-touching of one of heavy metal's most classic and iconic works of all time, following the ill-advised footsteps of Exodus' 2008 Let There Be Blood or Manowar's recent dual classic album re-recordings.

Now, I have nothing personal against Rasmus Bom Andersen. They guy is fronting a modern metal band under a classic, legendary moniker and all he has done is to own it and contribute to a new era that in the last decade, which saw the band release two solid works, 2016's self-titled record and 2018's The Coffin Train. The guy doesn't have a great voice, but he sings with passion, contributes orchestrations and occasional additional guitars, so he's undoubtedly talented and focused in this. Was he an adequate choice to replace or replicate Sean Harris' immortal performance on Lightning to the Nations? HELL NO. Is it his fault? HELL NO. I think the one that had an issue against Sean Harris is his former brother-in-arms, Brian Tatler. Or perhaps it was just the band's intent to cash-in via newbies and more recent metal fans' exposure of a modernized classic, with all the current love for 80s-throwback and retro-metal going on. In any case, the intentions seem dishonest and selfish at best, perhaps even malicious. Andersen's vocals, which are way closer to Disturbed's David Draiman than to Sean Harris', feel totally out of place here. He's really out of his league and totally lacks Harris' youthful charisma, potency and, dare I say it, sexiness. The longer tracks are the ones that suffer the most from his plain delivery.

But again, the idea of this aberration wasn't his, as most signs point out. In Tatler's words: “We thought it'd be great to re-record the debut album with this line-up and the modern technology available. The original album was recorded and mixed in a week, and we were very young, still 19/20 years old when it was recorded, so there's a lot of that youthful energy. But we didn't have the technique, time or craftsmanship to record it with the sort of power that we could now. So that was a real thing to savour: the opportunity to go in the studio and record these songs fresh and vibrant.” Well, fresh and vibrant is not how I'd describe the sound on Lightning to the Nations 2020, rather, overproduced, insipid and of bad taste. Sure, the guitars are heavier, and the Death Magnetic-esque mixing flexes its brawn with might, the American way for mainstream metal music, but for all intents and purposes, the whole album lacks the soul, flavor and passion of the original one, a NWOBHM treasure that bridged the hard rock world of the 70s with the expanding and refining metal world of the 80s. 1980's Lightning to the Nations’ DIY naivety, its perceived flaws and imperfections are part of the everlasting charm it bestowed upon mankind and prompted several youths in the San Francisco Bay area to form several inspiring bands of their own. This magic can't be replicated by consciously modernizing it, nor the polishing of the surfaces will make the results more brilliant, au contraire, that's exactly why classic gems of decades past should remain as they are; untouched.

So yes, the production is a big issue, as expected, with the exception of Tatler's guitars, which sound pretty good to be honest; a full, crunchy sounds in the riffs, and fiery potency during the solos, even though that translates to a vapid extended version of “Am I Evil” or a mutilated one of “Sucking My Love”. The rhythmic section is ice-cold robotic in both performance and sound, even if the aggression has been revamped with the four-decade developments of metal music. More double bass and a thicker bass guitar sound, as clearly exposed in the new version of “Helpless”. Another modernizing aspect are the very subdued but audible extreme metal grunts added here and there, under Anderson's efforts. But it really doesn't matter; this whole record is a waste of everybody's time. Fans should adhere to purchasing the original if they can or having a try at Diamond Head's most recent output. The musicians involved should have produced new, original material, rather than this deplorable rehash. The only somewhat salvageable items here are the covers, especially “No Remorse” and “Sinner”, good choices in songs, but uneven performances as well (this line-up totally lays waste to any atmospheric moments the original versions ever possessed). Hell, the whole thing feels like a setlist of cover versions by your local hard rock/metal bar ensemble.

I wish bands stopped doing these pointless re-recordings, but it appears it has become sort of a trend in the 21st Century for veteran bands. The only two such offerings I think somewhat bring an upgrade are Dimmu Borgir's Stormblåst MMX and, to a much lesser extent, Sodom's The Final Sign of Evil, though both trade the originals grimness for better production values. The only one I have bought is the Norwegian's, and that's the only one I ever intend to have. A new Lightning to the Nations studio version is virtually unjustifiable. A live rendition/tribute, a complete re-interpretation with a more experimental approach… that might have worked to a degree. No option to surpass the 1980 version was ever attainable. It's not about being close-minded, it's about minding the legacy that no amount of time will ever tarnish.

There are many doubled edged swords lain before veteran artists seeking to continue their ongoing journey, but the most treacherous of them all is the elective task of rerecording past material. Though opinions may vary, more often than not a band that attempts to bring a seminal offering from a bygone era into the present day with a newly minted the production often finds themselves either robbing the original character of the songs in the process, or otherwise battling insurmountable expectations from the old guard of their respective fan base. Adding a further wrinkle into this risky venture, in the case of a band from the early days of heavy metal, is the ongoing trend of bands trying to recreate the old rustic sound down to the last sonic nuance, often to the point of incorporating almost every flaw present from the days of analog recording. Yet there is one band that seems willing to buck this trend of late and have struck auditory pay dirt while doing so, and that is the iconic NWOBHM act Diamond Head.

To those who remember the early 80s when heavy metal was the law in the British Isles, the stellar debut outing that was Lightning To The Nations needs no introduction. It functioned as something of a bridge between the older, hard rock roots of the style that progressed through the 1970s on both sides of the Atlantic and the newer, nastier sound that was beginning to rear its head thanks to the exploits of Motorhead and a few others. But those who were born in the years since will likely only know it through the promotion that it enjoyed via the homage repeated paid to it by Metallica throughout their early years and their regular practice of covering select songs from it. Were the latter group of metal devotees who may well only know such seminal classics as “Am I Evil?” or “The Prince” due to the 1998 Garage Inc. LP to hear the original 1980 opus today, it might barely pass for a metal album by current standards and be more readily seen as a successor to Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple with a more abrasive guitar presence.

While this 40 year anniversary tribute to the original is tailor-made for those accustomed to the highly compressed, maximum heaviness production practices of the present day, it is also faithfully realized for those loyal to the humbler sounds of yesteryear. Despite original guitarist and co-founder Brian Tatler being the only musician with any connection to the 80s incarnation of this band, let alone perform on the original album, it comes with a comparable degree of musical credibility that shines through its more industrialized skin. Vocalist Rasmus Andersen has both the range and the power to match the soaring character of Sean Harris’ original performance, but also proves apt at adding some rougher edges to coincide with the more aggressive tone of this particular rendition. Likewise, the chunky and distorted bass work of Dean Ashton and the thunderous punch of Karl Wilcox (the second longest serving member of this fold) provide a solid foundation that is loose enough not to lose the rocking roots of these songs, but also tight and ferocious enough to give things a moderately thrashing character.

Selecting a standout moment from the revisited seven compositions that rounded out the original would be a fool’s errand as the original was a pinnacle moment in heavy metal’s versatile character and qualitative consistency. The generally mid-paced rocking good times of the opening title anthem “Lightning To The Nations” and the jazzy shuffle with a heavy edge “Sweet And Innocent” are powerful examples of how the style’s bluesy roots and Tatler’s spiced up riffing can easily translate into a heavier template. Likewise, the drawn out jam session with a raunchy lyrical approach “Sucking My Love” showcases the style’s affinity with the 60s and 70s rock template where time limits were optional and all but non-existent in the live venue. The flash and flair of speeders like “The Prince” and “Helpless” build upon the strides made by Judas Priest while also showcasing a more adventurous songwriting approach bordering on epic in scope. But if there is one song that stands out from the pack, it’s “Am I Evil?”, if for no other reason than that its proto-thrashing character and its status as the most iconic metal anthem since Black Sabbath’s eponymous offering fits perfectly into this darker and more forbidding production sound.

Yet insofar as this album is a retread of the past, it functions also as a tributary offering to the whole style and a guide as to where the Diamond Head sound came from when considering the included cover songs. The renditions of “Immigrant Song” and “Rat Bat Blue” confess of a band that was very much aware and tightly rooted in the traditions that were handed down from Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple in the years prior to their formation, and the only thing more surprising than how well these earlier rock anthems fit into the modern heavy metal template is how seamlessly Andersen’s vocals can shift towards the banshee wailing days of yore. On the other hand, the inclusion of Judas Priest’s classic, long running metallic trailblazer anthem “Sinner” showcases where Diamond Head’s stylistic affinities were most concentrated during this album’s original composition given its heavy similarity to the majority of the original 7 tunes. Combined with the cover of Metallica’s “No Remorse”, which sounds so similar to the original version it could almost be its twin, it was equally clear that Diamond Head were both with the times and ahead of the times as they were tied to the glory of the past.

In the vast majority of occasions, the remake will pale in comparison to the original. This particular case differs in that it avoids the trap of sounding too similar or too different from its source material; a fine line that few can walk affectively. It’s a testament to the glorious history of heavy metal that continues to buttress every new act that comes raging out of the underground, but more so an example of how a guitarist with a vision and some impressive chops can build the same basic monument of greatness with an entirely different fold of musicians. To be clear, there is not a dull moment to be experienced during any of these eleven performances, but it’s impossible not to find oneself itching for Brian Tatler’s idiomatic guitar solos to come roaring into the foreground, providing a missing link between the frenzied blues noodling of Jimmy Page and the virtuoso shredding of Ritchie Blackmore and Eddie Van Halen. In essence, the only thing that makes Lightning To The Nations 2020 inferior to its 1980 original self is that the latter was recorded first.

Originally written for Sonic Perspectives (www.sonicperspectives.com)