Year : 1989 (High Roller Records Slipcase Edition 2022)
Style : Heavy Metal , Power Metal
Country : United Kingdom
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 112 mb
Bio:
Cloven Hoof are a heavy metal band from Wolverhampton, United Kingdom, that was active from 1979 to 1990, and again from around 2000 onwards. The band was associated with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement, alongside bands such as Iron Maiden, Saxon and Diamond Head. Enduring many line-up changes, only founding bassist Lee Payne has remained present throughout the band's career.Cloven Hoof went through a number of early line-up changes before settling on a steady line-up that would last for their first few recordings. Theatrical from the beginning, the four band members took up pseudonyms based on the four elements: David "Water" Potter, Steve "Fire" Rounds, Lee "Air" Payne and Kevin "Earth" Poutney.[1] This line-up recorded a successful demo tape in 1982, along with The Opening Ritual EP, and the debut Cloven Hoof album.Following the release of their self-titled debut, David Potter left the band to be replaced by Rob Kendrick, who took up the "Water" pseudonym. This line-up only managed to record the live album Fighting Back before splitting up, leaving Lee Payne as the sole remaining band member.Lee Payne reactivated the band in 1988, hiring vocalist Russ North and guitarist Andy Wood from Tredegar along with drummer Jon Brown.With a whole new set of musicians in place, the band dropped the stage names and went on to record two more albums: 1988's Dominator and 1989's A Sultan's Ransom. Former member of Tredegar Lee Jones was brought into the band as a second guitarist soon after the release of these two albums, but contractual difficulties caused the band to split up again in 1990.In the summer of 2001, Lee Payne began putting together a new line-up for the next incarnation of Cloven Hoof (following a telephone conversation with Andy Wood regarding the contractual difficulties which had caused the band's decade-long split.)The band completed a live appearance at the Keep It True II Festival at the Tauberfrankenhalle in Lauda-Königshofen, Germany on 10 April 2004.Eye of the Sun was recorded and released in 2006, with the help of musicians Matt Moreton on vocals, Andy Shortland on guitars, and Lynch Radinsky on drums. Tom Galley produced the album. Due to the work commitments of various band members it was impossible for the unit to play live, so Lee Payne was once again obliged to enlist new personnel.Vocalist Russ North returned to England and rejoined the band, after a period of time spent living in Spain. Eventually the band's line-up was completed by Mick Powell and Ben Read on guitars, with Jon Brown on drums.2011 saw Lee Payne rebuilding the band, bringing in guitarist Joe Whelan from the band Dementia and guitarist Chris Coss from UK/DC, along with drummer Mark Gould and Ash Cooper on vocals. This line-up released a music video called I'm Your Nemesis.Russ North parted company with Cloven Hoof for a final time in July 2012, following a controversial performance in Cyprus. Mark Gould left the band in August 2012, with Jake Oseland replacing him on drums in time for a series of live dates in 2013.The 2013 line-up of Cloven Hoof scheduled a debut UK concert appearance with Jameson Raid and Hollow Ground at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on 30 March 2013.On 27 April 2013, Cloven Hoof played a concert at the Parkhotel Hall in Tirol, Austria. The show was recorded by producer Patrick Engel for a future live album release. A studio album, provisionally entitled Resist or Serve, was planned for release on High Roller Records.On 23 June 2013, Cloven Hoof played at the R-Mine Festival in Belgium, on a bill which included Hell, Tygers of Pan Tang and Tank. This was followed by an appearance at the Heavy Metal Night 6 Festival in Italy on 21 September 2013.In 2014, Cloven Hoof were added to the bill for the Sweden Rock Festival, with Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper. An appearance at the Power and Glory Festival in Hatfield was scheduled for 23 August 2014, with further European tour dates due to take place throughout the year.
Album:
A Sultan's Ransom, released in 1989, is the third full-length studio album by the British heavy metal band Cloven Hoof. It is the last Cloven Hoof album to feature Andy Wood on guitar, due to contractual difficulties that forced the whole band itself to split up from 1990 to 2001. Music videos were made for the songs "Mad, Mad World" and "Highlander" (which are now included on the band's debut DVD release, A Sultan's Ransom – Video Archive, which also contains live footage of the band playing in 1989 at Lichfield Art Centre).This rarity is a true gem of the NWOBHM treasure. The two most outstanding elements are the vocals and the guitars. Russ North is without any doubt one of the best metal singers in the world. Few can combine the power, class, range, technicality, and falsetto screams he shows off only in the first song. Coming to that, he has a voice of his own. Charismatic, strong, inspired and emotional. Yes this singer rocks. He joined Cloven Hoof on the Dominator album but A Sultan’s Ransom feature even finer works of his. This guy was by the way in the final round when Iron Maiden selected a new vocalist.The guitarist Andy Wood moves the listener to the seventh heaven with his blazing leads, glimmering solos and blasting riffs. It’s such a pleasure listening to the melodic yet so powerful guitars played by competent hands switching between riff attacks, solo crescendos and calmer passages faster and easier than oneself put butter on the breakfast bread. Actually, the guitar work is unparalleled by most bands of the time. It’s like Andy LaRocque in King Diamond’s band during their three best albums, squared. Drumming feels just as human-made as it shall do. Not the overly exact beats of a machine, but the harder, yet more fluid-like ones you only hear from a really skilled drummer. They just flow on, and on, and on… One doesn’t hear any echoes; one cannot but appreciate the swift and soft switching between tempos that happens quite often.The music is a dynamic speed-attack by this now ten years old band, who now really proves they are masters of the genre. There isn’t one single tune not giving one a sudden, strong and vital urge to head bang. Astral Rider is an instant hit, and so are all the other songs. The only weak spot, Notre Dame, is weak only in sense that it is weaker than the other songs on this album. I don’t want to give the impression that it in is a weak song; that would be misleading. In fact, it slays most Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs without any problems. Forgotten Heroes and especially Mad, Mad World are extremely catchy, with the kind of choruses you’ll find yourself singing on the street. But even these songs, and the magnificent Astral Rider, speedy, D.V.R, Accept-tasting Jekyll & Hyde, they are all nothing compared to the two real masterpieces, the two epic
Line-Up:
Russ North - Vocals (R.I.P. 2025) - See also: ex-Tredegar, ex-Hope and Glory, ex-Monza, ex-Streetwise
Andy Wood - Guitars - See also: Rhabstallion, ex-Gaskin, ex-Tredegar
Lee Payne - Bass - See also: East of Lyra, ex-Joseph Whelan
Jon Brown - Drums - See also: Vicious Nature, ex-Arcana, ex-Sweet Poison
+ guests:
Mil Gacic – guitar
Paul Hodson – keyboards
Production:
Recorded At – Mad Hat Studios
Mark Stuart, Paul Hodson – engineers
Tracklist:
01. Astral Rider 05:15
02. Forgotten Heroes 04:41
03. D.V.R. 02:49
04. Jekyll and Hyde 03:28
05. 1001 Nights 05:28
06. Silver Surfer 03:43
07. Notre Dame 05:45
08. Mad, Mad World 02:29
09. Highlander 03:40
10. Mistress of the Forest 06:50
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
