Hard to believe that back in the day this British outfit was hailed by Kerrang's Derek Oliver as "The future of heavy metal". Twenty five years later I doubt Derek still feels the same way otherwise it would be his label Rock Candy that would be footing the bill for this shoddy anthology from Mournblade. Angel Air has established a pretty solid track record at being one of the best heritage labels around. Now that's not to say they aren't prone to the occasional lapse of judgment because it's clear they've made a mistake by releasing what basically amounts to a collection of demos and live recordings from a band that really had no business ever trying to pursue a record deal.
Imagine a cross between the psychedelic, spacey keyboard driven sounds of Hawkwind or early Pink Floyd, mixed together with the Michael Moorcock Sci- Fi influenced musings of the annoying, snot nosed, John Lydon- like vocals of one Dunken Mullett, and that pretty much sums up Mournblade in a nutshell. This anthology is even mix of studio and live material from 1984/85 that all share one thing in common, they sound like crap. Both the recordings (originally recorded on four and eight tracks) and the performances themselves sound equally as primitive. The live tracks are a marginal improvement, although the only thing I found remotely interesting here was the aforementioned spacey synth contributions from Derek Jasnoch, who clearly should have seen the light and taken his talents elsewhere while he had the chance.
This anthology is just downright painful to listen to and in case you haven't noticed by now it's labeled Vol 1 which indicates there's more on the horizon. One can only hope that by the second volume they've sacked Mullett, increased their production budget, written better songs and locked themselves in their rooms with their respective instruments, but somehow I doubt it. One star and that's for Derek Jasnoch.
Track Listing
1) Anthem Of Chaos
2) Servants Of Fate
3) The Stairway
4) The Machinery Of Joy
5) Science Fiction
6) Desolation
7) In The Arms Of Morpheus (Live)
8) Eternal Champion (Live)
9) Hunter Killer (Live)
10) Battlezone (Live)
11) Titanium Hero (Live)
12) Sidewinder / The Sorcerer (Live)
13) Servants Of Fate (Live)
14) Titanium Hero (Live)
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