According to Wikipedia, the Jameson Raid of 1895-1896 was a
botched raid on the Transvaal
Republic carried out by a
British colonial statesman Leander Starr Jameson and his Company mercenaries...sort of like the US led “Bay of Pigs” Invasion of 1961. (Learn some history people! Google that
shit!) So basically a British band
naming themselves after an event that could only be considered a blot on their
country's history? Gotta give them mad props for not using the terms “Death”,
“Metal”, “Silver”, or “Blood” in their name and going for something incredibly
original. According to singer Terry
Dark, “the band was first called Spectate 2...(look twice). Not
very Metal...One of our road crew heard the story of the Raid in school and
thought it would make a good band name...we agreed...”
Birmingham based Jameson Raid released their first
EP/single, “The Seven days of Splendor” in 1979, right in the heart of the
burgeoning New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement that I love so much. In fact, EMI included a song of theirs, “Hard
Lines” on the Metal for Muthas II
compilation in 1980 (crediting the band as “The Raid"), alongside such artists
as Dark Star, Chevy, Trespass and White Spirit.
The band released another EP in 1980, the prophetically titled “End of
Part One” before eventually fizzling out.
In 2010, like so many other bands of the era, the band
regrouped. They released,“Just as the
Dust Had Settled” a collection of songs from the band's back catalog on Shadow
Kingdom Records.
“Uninvited Guests” is the band's first full length of all
new material. The term “traditional
British metal” gets bantered around a lot, but in this case it's a compliment
of the highest order. There is something
very British in Jameson Raid's sound,
from the twin guitar leads, to Terry Dark's voice which reminds me of a lower
register Biff Byford (and a bit like my dear, late friend Terry Jones of Pagan
Altar), to Pete Green's Steve
Harris-like bass runs in “Metal People” (I know a Rickenbacker when I hear
one!) and of course the driving double kick drums throughout the album.
I honestly can say every song on the album has it's own
unique sound. There are the upbeat fist
pumping rockers, Like “Metal People”, slower, doomy songs like “Breaking
Point”, and mid-paced songs like “9 reasons” (my favorite track on first listen
to the album).
Jameson Raid's “Uninvited Guests” is 56 minutes of well-crafted, expertly played
metal music, as modern sounding as anything “the kids” are putting out these
days. In fact, young musicians could
learn a lot from Jameson Raid- still flying the flag for British metal!
- Rys
WWW.JamesonRaid.co.uk
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