Year: 2021
Total Time: 41:49
Label: Blaze Bayley Recordings
Blaze is no stranger to any friend of the “hard” sound. From his transition from The Beast and his two albums with IRON MAIDEN, to his personal career and his first band, WOLFSBANE, Blaze is a dedicated musician and a personality liked by the majority of the fans.
After the end of his famous and very good “Infinite Entanglement” trilogy, Blaze returns to the discography with his eleventh personal album entitled “War Within Me”.
Unlike his three previous albums which were essentially telling a story, his new work (although not a concept album), lyrically and semantically has to do with inner quests, man’s struggle with himself and his demons, with psychological and anthropocentric backgrounds and references to people whose achievements changed history.
“War Within Me” is consisted of ten songs, recorded at Blaze’s studio in the West Midlands and Christopher Appleton’s studio at Greater Manchester by the two of them, and the musicians who now make up Blaze’s personal band are again the members of the uprising British Heavy Metal band of ABSOLVA, with Christopher Appleton participating on guitars, with a share in the writing of the album, while on the drums we find Martin McNee and on the bass Karl Schramm. The cover was created by Akirant Illustration (IRON MAIDEN, Star Wars).
Following the footsteps of the “Infinite Entanglement” trilogy, Blaze does not stray from the sound he has adopted in recent years. It is pure, N.W.O.B.H.M. with all that entails. Melodic and fast where needed, with references of course to IRON MAIDEN, but although it follows the recipe of “Infinite Entanglement” it is not a copy of it. It is inspired and shows that Blaze continues to be in shape, producing albums that will not be unnoticed. And his vocals, in music written just for them, show that they can be really good, allowing him to color them expressively properly, performing his songs very nicely. All ten songs on the album are interesting, but some stand out and should be mentioned. “War Within Me”, “Witches Night”, “The Dream of Alan Turing” and “The Unstoppable Stephen Hawking” remain comfortably in the listener’s memory, and “Every Storm Ends” is perhaps the most complete song of the album with a really amazing performance by Blaze.
In “War Within Me” Blaze does not discover a new genre nor does he goes on to tell the story of N.W.O.B.H.M. a step further. What it offers you is a work straight from the soul of the artist, well-made, passionate and very pleasant to listen to. A nice addition to Blaze’s catalog and an equally beautiful addition to the record collections of the fans of the genre.
Rating: 7,5/10
Editor: Fanouris Exintavelonis
Related Link: Blaze Bayley – Official Page
