VIRTUE — We Stand to Fight (review)

VIRTUE — We Stand to Fight album cover Demo · 1985 · NWoBHM Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Certif1ed
Slammin' Power Metal, as you'd expect from the title, good and hard, nice and fast without being thrashy and tight as a gnat's chuff.

Stirring stuff indeed from this Oxfordshire based act - see, Oxford isn't all Radiohead.

Why this wasn't a monster hit was probably because it was released after the tail end of the NWoBHM, when interest had largely died down in metal circles in favour of the rising American thrash bands - so there was probably a sense of heard it all before. Indeed, there are moments when it sounds a little generic and Maiden-inspired.

The attitude and energy of the band are as impressive as the musicianship though, making this a real treat for fans of this style of metal - and really, I think any metal fan would get enjoyment from it, even if it was a kind of guilty pleasure from fans of the really brutal and dark stuff.

The B-side, High Treason (a name that hearkens right back to NWoBHM's early days!) is every bit as good as the A-side, with really nice touches in the arrangement bringing a dramatic pathos to the song that is soooo lacking in metal now.

While the A-side is a clear attempt at a strong melody-infused anthem, though, this song is more a showcase of the band's technical playing and songwriting abilities. The guitar solo arrangement impresses particularly, even though the solo itself is patchy in places. The fact it avoids the pentatonic and goes through many tempo and style shifts is impressive though - seems the band were keen to push the envelope as far as they could.

The section after the solo is a massive headbanging moment with an absolutely classic riff.

Highly recommended late bottled vintage NWoBHM. Enjoy with plenty of beer - and you can check it out right here.

I should be a poet.
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