ENFORCER 'DIAMONDS' TRACK BY TRACK

So, this blog, much to the dismay of the boys in the office (I would imagine), is turning into a bit of an Enforcer slashfictionathon (ooh don't get me thinking - all that dry ice and spandex), but indulge me, I'll get it all out of my system in a week or so and move onto fresh obsessions (new albums from Grand Magus and Enslaved already getting me excited). But I found a fellow steel warrior in the form of this week's Wretched Spawn (our budding intern Mirza Gazic) and he's been doing nowt else but rocking da Force's recent opus 'Diamonds' on his headphones all day. So I got him to dissect it, track by track, to get you, the readers, as excited as me about it. Hope it works.


'DIAMONDS' TRACK BY TRACK

1. 'Midnight Vice'
The album kicks off with a build up of wailing guitars and rolling drums - sounds just a tad like Maiden’s ‘Wrathchild’ intro - before the anthemic tune starts. It’s instantly memorable and heavy on Iron Maiden influences, especially with the galloping bass lines. It has a shamelessly melodic chorus and the high-pitched Halford sounds are out in full swing straight away. A great opener and with potential is bound to be high on the singalong list.

2. 'Roll The Dice'
This one is faster, with a good rollicking tempo and bringing in the Exciter influence. So far the focus is on short, punchy anthems just over three minutes long that will get heads banging and fists pumping. There is a part in the chorus which is perfect for a short singalong outburst finishing of with with “come on let’s go/roll the dice”. Lyric-wise it seems to be about taking a chance, but then again it could just be about gambling.

3. 'Katana'
Here we are onto more epic territory. Katana is over six minutes long and with a Japanese lyrical theme. It’s about the samurai sword with lyrics like “roaming in the poison air/within its shogun hand” and once again we’re in Iron Maiden’s territory. This is the kind of long, epic track they specialised in. It beats anything off Trivium’s ‘Shogun’, that’s for sure.

4. 'Running In Menace'
It starts of like a mid-paced thrash tune with a good, solid rhythm going. One of the things Enforcer do well is to throw in some inspired thrash shreddery in their trad metal. It works well with those choruses that tattoo themselves onto your brain. ‘Running In Menace’ is another infectious tune. Here Enforcer sound like one of those old rock dinosaurs, playing an arena and prowling the big stage, especially when Wikstrand sings “See you in Tokyo/Out in the city”.

5. 'High Roller'
The pace is picked up again, albeit still with a groove maintained and some good riffing to show off. Playing with deathsters Tribulation clearly isn’t doing guitarist Adam Zaars any harm.

6. 'Diamonds'
The title track is an instrumental exercise in driving, supple riffs and guitar solos aplenty. It has a slower mid-section and a strangely mellow and ballad-like finish and seems like a chance to just blast out some guitar riffs without any vocals interrupting. Maybe it’s good to let the singer rest a bit - sounding like a mix between King Diamond and Halford must take its toll.

7. 'Live For The Night'
This is a fast one - fastest one so far. The inspired shredding brings to mind Toxik but the song is also one to be in the race for one of the most anthemic. It’s punk in length and delivery but is a real pulse raiser too. The chorus to this one will be yelled out during concerts, that’s for sure.

8. 'Nightmares'
This one also focuses on speed and has some good choppy riffage going. It has a slower, rhythmic part mid-way through but picks up again. The vocal histrionics are particularly good here and we get some really high-pitched yells courtesy of Olof Wikstrand.

9. 'Walk With Me
This song is, like 'Katana', one of the longer ones and thus takes its time with the build up. Instead the vocalist is allowed to show his range. Unlike its epic cousin on the album, ‘Walk With Me’ is not so heavy on Maiden, instead going with the Angel Witch influence when it picks up pace, with a some Priest thrown in as well.

10. 'Take Me To Hell'
The album finishes how it started - fast and anthemic with another fist-pumper. In all honesty the album is full of memorable tunes and this one is one of the more infectious ones.