RAVEN
RAVEN “All Hell’s Breaking Loose”
By Theron Moore
RAVEN have become the AC/DC of NWOBHM, and I mean that in a good way. They’ve figured out what works musically and they’ve become damn good at delivering it. That’s what their fan base wants and that’s what they give them. “All Hell’s Breaking Loose”, their new slab of metal mayhem, was released June 30 via Silver Lining Music and it’s everything you’d expect in a RAVEN album.
There’s a few bad apples we should talk about. The first is track five, “The Far Side.” What struck me odd about this song is how reminiscent it was, for the most part anyway, of commercial 80’s metal, a big departure from the first four tracks on “All Hell’s Breaking Loose” which owe more to the band’s early catalog than anything else.
Track six was a non-starter with “Desperate Measures.” It lacked the intensity of classic RAVEN and felt out of place with the first four songs. Dare I say it was more like a filler track than anything else? Track seven, “Victory’s Call,” fared a little bit better but not by much. On a curious note, I swear I heard a hint of VENOM at least from a lyrical perspective, in track one, “Medieval“ and track four “All Hell’s Breaking Loose.” That’s not a bad thing, it’s just interesting to mention.
So, where does the record stand? Good or bad? The way this critic views “All Hell’s Breaking Loose” is that the good outweighs the bad. The solid tunes really hit hard and a true nod to RAVEN’s early discography. Not every record can be a home run, this one’s probably a stand up double, at best. Check it out and give it a listen, this is RAVEN after all, they’ve earned it.
3 out of 5 stars