Blaze is the band of ex-Wolfsbane / Iron Maiden vocalist Blaze Bayley. If you wait Blaze to be like aforementioned bands, you are in for a surprise. While having roots in heavy metal of the yore, Blaze do not try to exploit old formulas found well working. And if you didn't enjoy Mr Bayley's work with Iron Maiden, don't judge this or him just because of that. You'd miss some fucking great heavy metal!

For some reason, in my humble opinion Blaze Bayley didn't get change to show his talents with Iron Maiden. Don't get me wrong; he did some great things with the Best Metal Band, Ever (TM), but none of them albums is comparable with this. On his first Blaze album the man does things no-one would have believed he was able to do. His voice is of course immediately recognizable. The man's throaty voice is low pitched, but he still hits quite high notes anyways. He does calmer singing as well, so vocals-wise this album is very varying. Mr Bayley does it very emotionally whenever needed. And it is needed on this one, believe me. Lyrics are great, since I'm a sci-fi freak and besides that, 'Silicon Messiah's lyrics are mostly very well written. There's two short concepts here: The first (songs 1-3) is about computer intelligence which has grown bigger than human's and might get dangerous for mankind. The second concept is about a man's journey to space in suspended state (songs 9 & 10). Other lyrics are more "now" and personal. On booklet, there's printed some words from sci-fi movies, but also from scientists and philosophers.

But now on to what really matters: the music! This is heavy metal as mentioned before. While the band's roots are in the heavy metal's past, they also have a modern edge to them. 'Silicon Messiah' does moves on quite wide spectrum of heavy metal field and this is only a good thing, since this way the album has much longer lifespan. 'Silicon Messiah' has been in frequent spinning over these three years, and if this doesn't mean anything to you, you shouldn't be reading this, so go get new Marilyn Manson. Very heavy stuff indeed, catchy choruses, (dark) atmosphere building, some hard rock stuff, emotional parts, power metal-ish stuff and Maiden-esque leanings are what Blaze is about, in English heavy metal way. 'Born as a Stranger' is one bloody energetic mosh-fest and 'Stare at the Sun' is a melancholic yet heavy "ballad", and both are instant classics (and so good songs I can't explain with words!), but most of the songs need some time to open.

This is also heavy. The Andy Sneap production is more intense than entering a black hole and heavier than Jupiter's mass. Just great, in any way! But it would be nothing if the band doesn't work. No problem here. Steve Wray / John Slater guitar team riff, solo and make their guitars scream like no tomorrow, while drummer Jeff Singer and bassist Rob Naylor (both have left the band now) provide tight backbone and excellent performances, too. The band transmits such energy with the performance, that it makes my head bang like hell, without any control. Sometimes the music makes me sad (especially 'Stare at the Sun'). Quite different feelings on the whole album.

The debut of Blaze is full of truly enjoyable, heavy and well composed heavy metal, that should leave no fan of this stuff cold. Just try this, do not care what's usually said about Blaze Bayley's years in Iron Maiden! A classic in the making. Metal on!!!

Rating: 9- (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
10/09/2003 19:00