New Wave of British Heavy Metal band Dark Heart originally formed in 1983, out of the ashes of Tokyo Rose, releasing a very good debut album “Shadows Of The Night” in 1984 on Roadrunner Records. Unfortunately, as happened with so many bands back then, it somewhat flew under the radar and the band eventually fizzled out in 1987. However, if you are a collector of such albums, it’s well worth getting hold of.

Fast forward to 2017 when original guitarist, and sole remaining member of the line-up Alan Clark, revived the name and at the end of 2021 Dark Heart released their second, self-titled album. Alan recently, and very kindly, sent me a copy of the album and after many listens I’m here to tell you it is a damn good piece of Classic Heavy Metal/NWOBHM with modern production.

Alan Clark now handles lead vocals/keyboards and I have to say, WHY hasn’t this man been fronting bands for years? He has an excellent voice and it is perfect for this style of melodic but thumping Metal. He is joined here by extremely good guitarist Nick Catterick, who lets fly with some impressive solos and riffs throughout, ex Eden’s Curse drummer Pete Newdeck (who has also done a fine job producing and mixing) and, the always good, Josh Williams on bass.

Kicking off with ‘Darkest Eyes’ is a fine move as it’s an up-tempo stomper of a track, showcases everyone’s ability, got me air drumming and nodding my head immediately and ends with a blistering solo that I wanted to go on for at least another two minutes as I was enjoying it so much. ‘Cast In Stone’ begins with an almost Pink Floyd guitar vibe before kicking into a crunching mid-tempo track that screams Tony Martin era Black Sabbath, which is a fine thing as far as I’m concerned as I always think the albums Tony Martin did with Sabbath are unfairly overlooked. ‘Edge Of Dreams’ continues that feel but other influences creep in. ‘Degrees Of Separation’ is up next and is another good track, even if the main riff sounds a little too close to Dio, but they aren’t the first band to do that and won’t be the last. It still contains an awesome guitar solo. ‘Wings Of The Night’ brings the tempo down and it’s the nearest thing there is to a ballad on the album. “Dark Heart” the album, continues in this vein across the eleven tracks. It mixes up the tempos, every song, fast or slow, is catchy and the, nearly one hour running time goes by pretty damn quickly.

I’m predominantly picking up the 80’s Sabbath/Dio influences the most and there’s nothing wrong with that. There are others and I’m sure you’ll hear your own, but, Dark Heart have managed to release a great album that sounds like Dark Heart! It’s not saying anything new but this is the type of stuff I was brought up on and I think they’ve done a bloody good job

‘Alan, can you not wait another 38 years until we get album number three please?’ Thanks!!

Track List

01. Darkest Eyes

02. Cast To Stone

03. Edge Of Dreams

04. Degrees Of Separation

05. Wings Of The Night

06. House Of Usurer

07. Break The Chains

08. Time To Fly

09. K.O.T.D.

10. Night Won’t Let Me Go

11. Shadows Of The Night

Band Members

Alan Clark – Vocals, Keyboards

Nick Catterick – Guitars, Keyboards, Backing Vocals

Pete Newdeck – Drums, Backing Vocals

Josh Williams – Bass

This review is solely the property of Richard Tilley and The Metal Asylum

Welsh band Black Lakes recently released their debut album “For All We’ve Left Behind” and for a band that, musically speaking, ply their trade in a Modern/Post/Nu Metal & Rock way, a style I listen to less, they have really made me sit up and listen because this album is loaded with twelve hard hitting but hugely melodic tracks of high quality.

What you notice immediately, when pressing play, is how well produced this is for a debut. Yes, I know it’s easier to get a more decent sound these days but you still need someone good behind the scenes to give the music that final professional sheen and to help project the message. Believe me, I’ve heard some good music this year that has been let down with shoddy production but that is certainly not the case with Black Lakes. This sounds huge and that bodes well for a young band.

As you might expect from this style of music it is, lyrically, on the depressing side but we’ve all been through a pretty tough time over the last 2 ½ years so it’s not unusual for bands to be in that mind-set when writing material. Black Lakes themselves say “For All We’ve Left Behind represents the bands shared experiences of loss, depression, suicide, deception, and deceit. There are also moments of light to counterpoint these strong negative emotions. The culmination of our work over the last three years is 12 songs that we feel speak of the struggles of the human condition disarmingly honestly, but with hope for a different future for all”. That is a very honest assessment of the music presented here and, perhaps, it is something I have been able to connect with more than I usually would, due to my own personal struggles recently.

Even though there is no theme or connection this is another body of music that feels well put together and thought out rather than just a selection of standalone songs. After a number of years where bands seemed to throw everything including the kitchen sink on an album and in an age when many just download 1 or 2 favourites off a release, there now seems to be a rediscovering of the essence of flow. There isn’t any padding or filler here, every song is where it should be and it feels complete.

There is much to discover here and repeated listens opened up facets that I initially missed. Even though I very much liked this on the first spin, there are some really great riffs and groove laden songs here, the album keeps giving, meaning it’s a grower and a mature one. I’ll say again that this doesn’t sound like a debut.

I suspect many ‘traditional’ Metal/Rock ‘fans’ will pass this by without giving Black Lakes a chance and that is why I dislike genre tags. “For All We’ve Left Behind” is a fine album and one that should be experienced fully by actually listening to it before passing judgement! I shall be following them with interest!

Track List

01. Exordium

02. Avarice

03. Dissident

04. Fragments

05. Verity In Flames

06. The Divide

07. Landslide

08. Ghosts (Of Our Memories)

09. Deathrone

10. Break The Silence

11. For All We’ve Left Behind

12. Black Days Come

Band Members

Will Preston – Vocals

Scott Brashaw – Guitars

James Rowlands – Guitars

Dylan Burris – Guitars

Lee Harris – Bass

Dafydd Fuller – Drums

This review is solely the property of Richard Tilley and The Metal Asylum