Although often billed as a NWOBHM act, Airforce didn’t actually form until 1987 so they missed that boat by a few years. However, they do have strong links to that movement and a sound that would slot into that whole aesthetic effortlessly. This unashamedly heavy metal; it’s a foot-on-the-monitor, horns-held-high celebration of the genre, and in our musically confused era, that is rather refreshing. Album number three finds the guys doing what they do best and Acts Of Madness drops eleven bombs that explode with effervescence and ensures that they aren’t resting on past glories but set their sights on a bright future.
As Airforce didn’t release their debut album until 2016, you could say that they aren’t in a hurry, but that’s not strictly true because opening track ‘Among The Shadows’ bursts from the speakers like a fleet of enemy aircraft. It’s a bold and brash introduction that perfectly sets out their stall for the coming forty minutes; the drums fire like belt-fed machine guns, the guitars soar like a Red Arrow display team, whilst the vocals ring out as if an air raid siren warning of impending attack. It’s the perfect way to get sucked into the band’s world and it’ll make you want to stick around for the whole ride; this is the kind of album that’s built for the long haul and the following ‘Life Turns To Dust’ trades speed for power to deliver a more measured cut that throws its considerable weight around. In fact, none of these tracks inhabit the same kind of space, there are plenty of time changes and shifts in tempo and that ensures that things never dive below the level of excitement.
If there was any doubt that this was a metal album, you need listen no further than the faux wolf howling which bookends track four, ‘Cursed Moon’. There’s something so reassuringly heavy metal about that; it’s the kind of thing metal’s detractors pick up upon as being cheesy and uncool, but we all know it’s about so much more. Good heavy metal should be evocative and create a sense of place and time (what Bruce Dickinson termed the “Theatre Of The Mind”) and that’s exactly what ‘Cursed Moon’ does. Transporting us to a frostbitten Transvaal that’s illuminated by an ice white moon, it creates an alternate reality and you can almost feel the fresh snow crunching beneath your feet.
My first exposure to Airforce came from their supporting British Lion a few years ago (reviewed here) and they acquitted themselves well that evening, more than holding their own with their illustrious headliners. It’s something that they’ve carried over onto disc and Acts Of Madness kind of reminds me of Iron Maiden before they went all progressive. Some might say that’s due to former Maiden drummer Doug Samson being behind the kit, yet it goes a little deeper than that; the guitar solos on ‘Heroes’ (courtesy of Chop Pitman, he of NWOBHM stalwarts EL-34) are the kind you wish Maiden would still play and are delivered with military muster. Former EL-34 bassist Tony Hatton ensures things bounce along nicely whilst vocalist Flávio Lino bears more than a passing resemblance to Blaze Bailey. Final track is a cover of Maiden’s strange world, on which they put their own indelible stamp, and shows they haven’t torn up their roots. Yet, it would be wrong to write the band off as mere copyists because they definitely have their own thing going on.
For those who like their metal with plenty of firepower…here’s your ticket!
- Acts Of Madness is released via ROAR Records on 21st February 2024.
- Facebook | Instagram
Track List:
- Among The Shadows
- Life Turns To Dust
- The Fury
- Cursed Moon
- Sniper
- Lost Forever
- Westworld
- Heroes
- Obliterated
- Hacksaw Ridge (Okinawa)
- Strange World
