The strap-line for the site you are kindly reading proclaims that it is your source for the “atmospheric and extreme”, and lurking amongst the pages are bands with sounds and aesthetics that seem to have been vomited from the depths of hell. As such, when the review list was circulated by our Lord and Editor to his assorted minions, one offering stood out from the crowd of unpronounceable underground acts and was seemingly being ignored, leading to me firing off this message; “Greetings, okay, has anyone gone for Magnum? If not, as your old git in residence, I’ll give the crumbly old sods a spin.” (Dear Editor, as promised). The result of that email now follows.
If you’ve never heard of Magnum, well, shame on you. Now in their fiftieth year, and still fronted by founders Bob Catley on vocals and Tony Clarkin on guitar, if you’ve ever listened to any symphonic or prog metal ever, there is a more than even chance that band would have been influenced by these hard rock veterans, be it by the strong presence of keyboards, sweeping clean vocals, lyrical themes of fantasy, or even the magical covers, their presence is felt far and wide.
From the first note of opening title track ‘The Monster Roars’ there is no doubt that Magnum have decided against a new direction as they enter their sixth decade, instead sticking to their tried and true formula. Keyboards alternately tinkle and soar as Clarkin fires out power chords to accompany Catley’s apparently ageless vocals, the whole melding together to create a sound that could have come from any of the many albums that make up their substantial discography. Is this a criticism? Hell no! That would be like decrying AC/DC for playing “that riff” again, or a black metal band for having an unreadable logo; it is just part of their DNA. ‘Remember’ continues Magnum’s signature sound, but with a simpler story of the joys of rock as opposed to a journey into the realms of fantasy, and it is fair to say that each of the songs on ‘The Monster Roars’ is indeed a story set to music. ‘All You Believe In’ is a more contemplative offering than the first two rockers, complete with sweeping chords that demand lighters to be raised in the air and waved along; these chaps truly know who to write crowd pleasing hooks.
From track to track, the word that keeps on springing to mind is “timeless”, as Magnum produce number after number that ignores the vagaries of changing fashion to deliver what they know and know well: ‘The Present Not The Past’ moves between simple acoustic verses to overarching symphonic choruses; ‘No Steppin’ Stones’ throws a jazzy brass section into the mix to help recreate the sound of live stadium rock; ‘That Freedom Road’ moves seamlessly between intimate vocals to musical pomp; and ‘Your Blood is Violence’ opens with an electric piano line that could have been either borrowed from or stolen by a late seventies Led Zeppelin.
‘The Monster Roars’ is not an album of surprises, and if you are either insistent on exploring the experimental and unexpected, or a traveller of the musical left hand path who requires unrelenting darkness and demon spawned screams, this is not the album for you. Rather it is an album by musical veterans who know how to play with experience, and who are confident and comfortable with the path they tread and don’t feel the need to change. It also has that nearly impossible to define feeling of simply being, for want of a better word, genuine, and despite having well over twenty studio albums in their back catalogue, it is still created with an obvious passion rather than just another cookie cutter offering falling off a production line. Check their website as Magnum have a fair few live dates coming up, and if you go for a Scottish show, well, you may just bump into this “old git in residence” in the audience.
(7/10 Spenny)
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