dragon This is the end of the world - and it kicks ass! From the hellish intro of the opening track "Abandon Hope all ye who enter here" to the dying chords of "In the heat of the night" this album is relentless. The guitar work is stunning whether it be power chords, searing riffs or outstanding lead work this guy deserves to be up there amongst the guitar greats. Bass guitar thunders along throughout and the drums drive it all with some incredible breaks at breakneck speed. The only thing that stops it from getting that extra half star is the vocals lack some of the power and menace of earlier Apocalypse / Omega recordings. Don't get me wrong. The singer has a great voice - listen to the re-worked "Chosen Few" on this album - but check out the vocals on the original Gate Records single Stormchild/Chosen Few (if you can get hold of a copy - they're currently changing hands at $300 dollars plus), or listen to the Omega album "The Prophet" (agian, if you can get hold of a copy. That said, this truly is heavy metal thunder. Buy a copy while you can cos based on these guys previous recordings you will be paying a fortune for a copy when these sell out.

Certif1ed Apocalyptically bleak.

The sound of Apocalypse's sole single is hard to describe. The vocals sound very much like early Lemmy, and the music is a curious mixture of the old Speed bands; The Pink Faries and The Groundhogs, but it keeps threatening to go off in a progressive or even a reggae-fied direction, like the Ozric Tentacles meet early Motorhead.

The bass pounds constantly, never sitting still, while the drums weave themselves around the bass lines, as the guitars snarl out lines that hint at Iron Maiden's melodic licks, without ever being direct copies, instead, maintaining more of a 1970s hard rock vibe.

Flip the single, and, budget production aside, we're in much heavier, doomier territory. It's the very roughness of it you just gotta love - yet despite the roughness, you can clearly hear every instrument in the mix, and the band deliver with a taut aggression an impressive set of tempo changes and stop/starts that are the hallmark of the NWoBHM at its best. Like so many of these singles, the A side is a kind of easy access anthem, and the B-side is the real meat - the stuff you just know the band really wanted to play.

I'd definitely want to be drinking in whichever pub these guys are playing in. You can tell it's one of those with bike-oil encrusted sawdust on the floor, and legions of Angels in their Friday night colours. The atmosphere from these two songs is absolutely tangible.

If anyone knows the whereabouts of any of the demo tapes these guys sold at gigs, I want them!

I can't quite manage the masterpiece on this - it's great NWoBHM, and essential listening, but not quite outstanding.