This is what i want to know, some more bands from the VERY early stages who have that special increadibly raw vibe, or bands from slightly later but with that early NWOBHM sound.

For perfect example Jameson Raid. This band are fucking amazing, Catchy riffs, heavy and fully fist banging.

I love how unpretentious the early stuff is, its just the mentality of purely wanting to let loose and be heavy! Also i love some of the guitar sounds from that era, really low-gain overdrive, sounds so raw. Pure loud valves crackling... amazing!

So, who can help me out here?

Hmm, well, there were a lot of band existing in 1978/9, but they never released much till late in '79, or early '80, e.g. Gaskin, Fist, Kraken (search for their "Fantasy Reality" 7" - classic), Sledgehammer (I saw their 1st gig, in support to Motorhead, at Slough College 1978).

Triarchy had their "Save the Khan" 7" out in 1979 too. I don't rate it as a classic though.

Jameson Raid were around quite a while before the NWOBHM officially kickstarted, and I have some live and demos from '77 of them. In fact, you have probably noticed that they have a retrospective release coming out for Shadow Kingdom Records. You can thank me for that, as I was in touch with Terry Dark and the band wanted me to approach a few labels for them, with a view to release this anthology. There will be some good quality live video clips from 1980 too - shot professionally.

The band now has an official website set up - http://www.jamesonraid.eu/

Please note, they have some reunion live dates coming up in July 2010. They were one of the best live band I ever saw back then, so this is something worth travelling for! Why they never got signed is beyond me!! I mean, why sign A II Z and not Jameson Raid?

Not early, but certainly worth checking out are the following - Sacred Alien & Y Diawled (their "Noson Y Blaidd" single is superlative. The title is Welsh, BTW) Oh, and the great Arc - "War of the Ring" 7" from 1981.

I wouldn't say that NWOBHM was a specific sound - all the bands were pretty much different to each other. It's just a broad classification for that period in British Metal history.

Here's a good reference page for you to delve some further... http://nwobhm.info/nwobhm/index.php?opt ... e&Itemid=1

Somehow i knew you would come up trumps here Blacktears!

Yes i agree about the whole NWOBHM classification being to a period over a sound, i mean Tank, Saxon and Iron Maiden all sound pretty diferent!! But also you must agree that by the sort of 84/85 priod the sound of the bands involved was changing considerably due to better production and some degree of commerical interest. Also by then the 80s had kicked in proper and everybody was begining to look ridiculous, and the underground bands were starting to play faster and more aggressively.

Yeah excited to hear about all the upcoming Jameson Raid stuff! wicked news! and i'm going to check those bands out straight away, you rule!

GEDDES AXE!!!!

The "Taipan" EP from Taipan (released in '81) is one of my faves. They were from Oz rather than the UK, but it's 4 tracks of NWOBHM-style goodness. I remember hearing it on the Friday Rock Show for the first time and immediately going out and buying a copy.

Indeed, the 1st Taipan 12" is dynamite, an all time classic for all NWOBHM fanatics - "Breakout"!!

The "1770" MLP from 1985 is decent too, though nowhere as good.

What's more, they've reformed, with two albums out.

http://www.myspace.com/taipan_metal

Another non UK band to look out for is VIOLATION (US), who had a single out in 1981, produced by a member of Y&T. The "Meet me After Midnight" single is a total blaster.

Resilience Records wrote: But also you must agree that by the sort of 84/85 priod the sound of the bands involved was changing considerably due to better production and some degree of commerical interest. Also by then the 80s had kicked in proper and everybody was begining to look ridiculous, and the underground bands were starting to play faster and more aggressively.

Personally, I would say the NWOBHM was strictly 1978-1983, for me anyway. There were still bands of that ilk coming through later on, e.g. Elixir / Masque / Early Marshall Law /Desolation Angels (though they started earlier) amongst a spate of others.

A few more highly recommended bands are Stormqueen (the 1980 "Battle of Britain" demo is one of the finest from the era!), Tyrant, Apocalypse (LP coming out on High Roller soon) Bleak House (I have their retrospective CD in stock now) & JJ Powerhouse.

blacktears wrote:Indeed, the 1st Taipan 12" is dynamite, an all time classic for all NWOBHM fanatics - "Breakout"!!
The "1770" MLP from 1985 is decent too, though nowhere as good.
What's more, they've reformed, with two albums out.

Yeah, I got the "Stonewitch" album. Some good stuff on there but unfortunately they tried to update their sound a bit on a few new tracks and some of it really didn't work for me. I didn't know about the other new album though - I'll have to check that out. Thanks !

Jamie I think you would really like Dragonslayer too, Shadow Kingdom released a compilation CD which contains all of their stuff. It's not super early date wise but they have a really vintage and innocent sort of sound. I particularly like the '82 demo, but it's all classic NWOBHM. Definitely buy the CD, it's a great package and really retro looking (I imagine Russ will have some in stock!).

Or if you really want to splash out, it's also on gatefold orange vinyl:



http://www.myspace.com/dragonslayeruk

All the songs are good, but especially check out "Blind Terror" - killer interlude section as all great NWOBHM bands should feature at some point! According to that page they've reformed too, so maybe us youngsters will get to hear some of those songs live!

James wrote: Definitely buy the CD, it's a great package and really retro looking (I imagine Russ will have some in stock!).

All sold out, I'm afraid - but it is easy and cheap enough to get it from Shadow Kingdom still.

http://www.shadowkingdomrecords.com

Highly recommended

Oh yeah, just received copies of the WOLFBANE album they brought out (not Wolfsbane, BTW). This is an early 80s band, with members that went on form BLOOD MONEY later. I think you will like this one - raw and dirty NWOBHM.

OK, I have thought up a few more recommendations. These things come to me SLOWLY these days.

How about SPEED (Bruce Dickinson's 1st band). The single came out in 1980, but the recording pre-dates that by a couple of years, before Bruce joined SAMSON. It's a damned good single, actually.

Check out a young Bruce in this backsleeve photo



URCHIN - "Black Leather Fantasy" 7" - 1977 (Adrian Smith's pre-Maiden band) they released an anthology LP on High Roller Records a couple of years ago.

MYTHRA - "Death or Destiny" EP (1979) held up as the all time defining NWOBHM single (not by me I hasten to add, even if it is good).

REQUIEM - "Angel of Sin" 7" (1980) I love this single to death.

NIGHTMARE FLYER 7" (1979) Welsh band. The B Side - "Heavy Metal Rules" is a killer anthem - SLOUGH FEG have covered it. I recorded this one for Rich Walker, after listening to it on a drive to Bolton Castle. It's no surprise the cover appeared on his "Hail Britannia - Vol 1" split single.

CRUCIFIXION - "The Fox" 7" (1980) Lovely raw production and delivery.

RHABSTALLION - "Day to Day" (1981) Small scale Yorkshire band, who had a retrospective CD a little while back (forgotten the label). I have a signed copy of this one.

VIRTUE - "We Stand to Fight" 7" (1985) OK, outside the prime NWOBHM period, but still one of the classics.

have one band exist around 90, 91 in UK called Slander
even is 90' band, but they playing old nwobhm

their only release careless talk costs lives is VERY awesome!
[I got it on bootleg.....]

I just cant stop listening SAXON holy shit
I'm too dumb to not checking them out till recently
STOP!!! GET OUT!!! WE ARE THE STRONG ARM OF THE LAW!!!!