siLLy puPPy After a 16 year hiatus and trimmed down to a trio BROCAS HELM returns with a new album and what a great one it is. This album has a strange history as it was originally supposed to be titled GHOST STORY, a continuation of the cassette only EP of the same name released in 1994. Because of mysterious intervening forces that album never came to be so the band decided to simply include the four tracks “Ghost Story,” “War Toons,” “Time Of The Dark” and “Juggernaught” from the orignal EP on this album now titled DEFENDER OF THE CROWN. It all fits together really well and you'd never know those songs are ten years older.

Right from the very first notes of “Cry Of The Banshee” you can hear that BH are back with a vengeance! No lackadaisical comeback album with this one. The epic 80s power metal simply picks up where the last album left off 16 years before with nary a care of the musical developments that have taken place since that time. The result is a kick-ass, no-compromise album that doesn't let up the entire run of the album. Mercifully we get a full hour album this time around and despite that running time it never gets tiresome. We not only get epic medieval themes but also some humorous anecdotes in the forms of “Drink And Drive” and “Drink The Blood Of The Priest.”

The band has always been fairly obscure but in recent years has been becoming more popular in Europe and elsewhere due to the fact Jack Black chose their track “Cry Of The Banshee” to use in the video game BRUTAL LEGEND. Another metal masterpiece from this band that seems to favor quality over quanity. Do we really have to wait 16 more years for a follow-up?