VARIOUS - Britannia Infernus: A History of British Occult & Black Metal

If anyone went to the Hard Rock cafe in Edinburgh in the early 80s they would have witnessed a strange sight. Midway through the night the dance floor would empty of air guitar fiends, as a solo flute piped through the speakers. A man would then cavort inappropriately round the venue as "Come To The Sabbat" by Black WIdow played. I was that man, and that track opens this double CD.

Now this could have been a very interesting project. However, a history should be just that. And any CD which jumps from the bleak, dysfunctional, majesterial, but in no way occult, "Death Walks Behind You" by Atomic Rooster, Black Sabath and the aforementioned Black Widow, all from 1970, straight to the NWOBHM of 1980 fails in its mission. Missing a year is careless, but a whole decade?

So, in order to review this, it becomes necessary to ignore the reason for its existence. From the eighties we get the usual suspects - Venom (but not "Black Metal"), Angel Witch, Witchfynde etc. To be fair there's a fair number of pleasant surprises. Pagan Altar are a doom fuelled delight and worthy of rediscovering. I'd manage to blank Cloven Hoof from my consciousness after seeing them at their peak. But the full horror of Air, Fire, Water, Milk or whatever they claimed to be returns here in finest Spinal Tap fashion. Delightful! The rest of the eighties peter out, but then comes CD2 - the nineties!

Yup, corpse paint arrives, and with it, adolescent boys. Confused? I was never confused. Disc 2 actually works very well as a compilation, and skipping over the horror that is Cradle of Filth, does highlight some of the better genre acts. Bal Sagoth (not strictly occult or black, but essential), Ragnarok, December Moon, Phantasia, Meads of Asphodel, all present and worthy of your attention.

While it doesn't live up to its billing, this is a good compilation, and if any of the spotty boys mentioned above want ot investigate their NWOBHM predecessors, and some classic rock, this is a quality one stop shop.

Buy it at Amazon for £11.99

DICKEY BETTS BAND - Let's Get Together

Bearing in mind Dickeys recent 'troubles', and still nursing the wounds of Great Southern, it was with no small amount of trepidation that I approached this ceedee. And whadda you know? It's fabulous.

Perhaps his forced removal from the band that he served in man and boy inspired a huge welter of "I'll show the bastards", but this far surpasses anything the Allmans have done in the last decade. Dickeys conjured up a big band fell, the way the Grease Band could. Blues riffs, jazz passages and a feeling of 'come on in, take a seat, male yourself at home'.

Spend 10 minutes in the company of "One Stop Be-Bop" and you won't have wasted on second. And on "Dona Maria" he finds the classic Santana groove from 1971, and lets fly. Superb and essential.

Buy it at Amazon

http://www.freefalls.com

VODKA CAMELS - Something Cool

Been a while but the Vodka Camels are back with a 5 track EP. And the opening, title track, is poptastically good. In a just world you'd hear it regularly on the radiogram instead of no talent low lifes like the White Stripes. The next gem is "My Perception", which makes a fine attempt at grandiose simplicity along the lines of the late, lamented Strangelove.

"Alibi" is a tad bombastic, but things end back on top with the splendid beat combo sounds of "Gold Digger", which is absolutely superb. Welll worth hearing.

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