Sweden’s Ambush (from Växjö to be precise) are one of those bands you wait a long time to find. Since their demo days I have been in awe of their talent for writing stunning real metal tunes with some definitive melodies and a certain art for making you remember their tunes from the first listen. Last year’s debut album ‘Firestorm’ was a breath of fresh air and I am pleased to report that the same can be said for ‘Desecrator’.
You will still find many references to Judas Priest’s late 70’s to early 80’s material on offer, but they are also bringing out the Accept and Iron Maiden influences. The latter towards to album’s closing track ‘The Seventh Seal’. This has some great guitar work reminiscent of the great ‘Powerslave’ era for those British stalwarts of metal. But enough about easy comparisons, lets deal with Ambush’s infectious nature. Starting with ‘Possessed by Evil’ the vocal delivery is top class, reaching all those high notes in the right key and at the right level without a hint of vocal strain. ‘The Chain Reaction’ gets a touch more classic metal and for all you underground followers not quite here with Ambush but with Ireland’s Stereo Nasty, then you will get the idea of the comparison here, especially the tempo and melody.
Creating an album that has effortless flow is sometimes difficult, a lot of bands are harbouring the retro classic metal style, but Ambush do things a touch different and stay away from the speed influenced material and defer a NWOBHM influence. They go straight for the metal heart that filled arena’s with ease in the 80’s. That said, it’s not all hero worship as I touched upon before. The production has the band represented remarkably, with every note and sound clearly audible with just the right balance to make this album akin to some of the classics by being the epitome of metal up to eleven and with Muskelrock 2016 already confirmed, one hopes more far reaching live dates will appear in the future.
There’s a whole host of quality on this second album, I do hope this gains that band more followers and they can easily be heralded as a band that have all their cards laid on the table and they definitely have the winning hand. If you are after classic metal but want a special touch of class, then check out ‘Desecrator’. Ambush “are there for you, ready for the fight” alright and they definitely have the material to “Take on the World”, and yes that is an intended quip!
(9/10 Paul Maddison)
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