Year Of Metal #009:Crimson Glory - Crimson Glory

We’re rolling back the years now to 1986 and the first real instalment of power metal. I’ve eschewed the massive hair and leather pants side of the metal ledger for the most part primarily because I just know it doesn’t appeal to me, so I was trepidatious going in, but I’m pleased to say Crimson Glory have massively exceeded expectations by once again making their music incredibly fun. 

There’s no preening or posing with this lot - or, more accurately, there’s preening and posing but they don’t believe themselves to be sex symbols. The cover reflects the kind of masks Crimson Glory would wear in their early years, halfway between Venetian masquerade and Terminator liquid metal. That sense of insane drama is there from the off on “Valhalla”. The ear splitting falsetto singer Midnight pulls out is joy, there’s a tapping solo that goes harder than it needs to, and the track even ends on an explosion. You know you’re in for a good time with this one. 

Some of the tracks, like “Azrael”, sound more like the cornier power metal that I’d expected going in, but more often than not, the tunes are dotted with weird details that distinguish them from the highly mockable metal milieu. “Lost Reflection” is a standout particularly for Midnight’s performance. He does the lot here, snarling, howling, and cackling in turn. “Angels Of War”, too, hits on some pretty by the numbers topics for metal, but the punchy bass, snaps of synth, and completely superfluous key change during the fade out makes for enormous fun. 

When they want to take themselves a little more seriously, they can do that, too. “Queen Of The Masquerade” has the kind of swagger and genuine thump Guns ‘N’ Roses would be putting out to critical acclaim a year later. Jon Drenning’s guitar frills are insane - he pops up with crazy noises like a proto-Tom Morello and tears it up with his stupidly showy solos every time. Honestly with a good edit, “Queen Of The Masquerade” should be a rock radio staple, but it’s the excess that makes it so charming.

You’d be hard pushed to call every track on here a genuinely good song, and the style of metal absolutely has its limitations (which, to be fair to them, Crimson Glory manage to find). But there’s at least one genuine banger on here, and enough shameless showmanship and attention to the little things to make it an easy recommend for anyone who likes this kind of nonsense.