Artist: Vantage Point
Title: Tomb of the Eagles
Type: Album
Label: Power Point Music

Oh I do love the smell of NWOBHM in the morning, so when I got to my desk to find a copy of ‘Tomb of the Eagles’ sitting there on it, I was naturally rather pleased. Yes, you can trace the majority of what we listen to now back to the likes of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and onwards to guys just sitting there riffing on 12 bar blues; but equally relevant is the influence of the bands and the sound that came with the original New Wave of British Heavy Metal. The influence of names such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, Diamond Head, Angel Witch and Def Leppard is deep in the DNA of metal bands of all shapes, sizes and preference these days, and whilst many look back on that era and those bands with distain, (wrongly, I would add), you cannot argue that metal would be much poorer for not having had them. Now, despite a number of attempts to kickstart a NNWOBHM, (that’s New-New Wave, just in case you are a bit slow), it never really gathered momentum for one reason or another. As the old adage goes though, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

For over 10 years, Vantage Point have been delivering their own brand of old school metal, and the Edinburgh quartet have developed a solid cult following in that time, and ‘Tomb of the Eagles’ marks their fifth full length release. As with bands like Maiden and Saxon, Vantage Point rely heavily on both history and popular culture to provide their inspiration, and the opening intro finally makes way for the arrival of the ‘High Plains Drifter’. Built off of a galloping bassline and considerable vocals of Murray Graham, it’s a song straight out of the 80’s. There is no pretence to be anything other than what it is, and that is fine with me. Once settled into that groove, it’s easy to relax and just enjoy some no frills, bare bones metal, but all delivered with skill and a flourish. Of course, with the benefit of 30 more years of metal ahead, it’s only to be expected that certain riffs and passages be taken via their musical time machine to the 80’s. Along the way, you will hear Metallica and Anthrax riffs, Maiden and Saxon, all of which are complimented by Graham’s voice which can impressively switch between powerful lead vocals to a Halford scream effortlessly. Musically, you’ll have heard tighter, but they are certainly no worse than the vast majority of other bands of the period.

So where’s the downside? Well actually, there are more than I initially thought. On repeated listening and close scrutiny, some of the songs really don’t work very well, such as the messy ‘Global Delay’ and the rather cynical ‘Cashin’ In’. Murray Graham’s voice, which is probably the biggest selling point of the band, falls short too on close inspection. Technically, it’s very good, and the screams are top notch, but his normal voice lacks charisma. Also, there is a lot of recycled material on this release, with four of the fourteen tracks being borrowed from previous albums. So there you go, there are both up and downsides to this album. Yes, it’s a valiant and faithful approach to the whole NWOBHM sound, but overall they are more of a Samson than a Saxon, a Salem than a Maiden, and a Cloven Hoof than a Judas Priest. Then I listen to their Spinal Tap-esque ‘Obedience School’ though, and suddenly they are heroes again.

http://www.vantage-point.info

Lee Kimber

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