Diamond Head – Lightning to the Nations 2020 (Review)

Reviewed by Chris Hammond

Diamond Head – Lightning to the Nations (2020)
Label: Silver Lining Music
Style: New Wave British Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock

Tracklist:

1. Lightning to the Nations 4:24
2. The Prince 5:53
3. Sucking My Love 7:12
4. Am I Evil? 8:25
5. Sweet and Innocent 3:41
6. It’s Electric 3:18
7. Helpless 6:55
8. No Remorse 6:27
9. Immigrant Song (Led Zepplin cover) 3:19
10. Sinner 6:49
11. Rat Bat Blue 4:25
    Runtime 51.99
    
    Diamond Head Band Members :
    Brian Tatler – Lead, Rhythm Guitars
    Rasmus Bom Andersen – Vocals, Orchestration, Additional Guitars
    Karl Wilcox – drums
    Andrew “Abbz” Abberley – Rhythm, Lead Guitars
    Dean Ashton – Bass, Organ
    
    Diamond Head is a British heavy metal band formed in 1976. They were one of the leaders of the new wave of British heavy metal and heavily influenced many metal bands that would form in the 80’s (Metallica most notably). The band has gone through many line up changes first they first hit the scene, but one things stays the same, they are metal through and through.
    

The new album Lightning to the Nations 2020 of course takes its name from the 1980 album. This new album is mainly comprised of re-recordings of the 1980 album, but with a few added songs in for good measure.
So is the material still fresh after 40 years, yes and no. The band can still play their hearts out, but some of the lyrics to a few of the songs aren’t what you’d call politically correct in the landscape of the world today.

The album is produced beautifully and the music holds up great, although the drums sound weak pretty much throughout the full runtime. The problem is everything else on the album has a more modern sound, so why not include the drums too?.

The vocals by Rasmus Bom Andersen are outstanding and worth getting this album just to hear him belt out these classic hits. The stand out songs are of course Am I Evil?, Helpless and It’s Electric. It was nice to hear the band’s take on the Led Zeppelin Classic “Immigrant Song” also.

Overall, in a year of bands re-recording classic releases Diamond Head’s Lightning to the Nations might get overlooked, but its Nostalgia is more than worth the price of admission.
Rating 3.0 out of 5
Available at The Official Diamond Head Website out now.