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Back in the early 1980s, Mournblade were regarded as a happening band. Well, things never actually happened for them. But they’re still out there giving it their best shot.

This is basically the band recorded in a rehearsal studio. It’s rough and basic, but has enough purpose and energy to avoid becoming something of a cheap embarrassment. Songs like American Dream, Sidewinder and Off The Rails race along, with the band sounding like a dirty mix of Motörhead and The Damned.

Talking of which, there are also decent versions of Bomber and Neat Neat Neat included here. This is a good reminder of why so much was expected once of Mournblade. But it also emphasises that they are grimy, no frills rock’n’rollers.

Malcolm Dome had an illustrious and celebrated career which stretched back to working for Record Mirror magazine in the late 70s and Metal Fury in the early 80s before joining Kerrang! at its launch in 1981. His first book, Encyclopedia Metallica, published in 1981, may have been the inspiration for the name of a certain band formed that same year. Dome is also credited with inventing the term "thrash metal" while writing about the Anthrax song Metal Thrashing Mad in 1984. With the launch of Classic Rock magazine in 1998 he became involved with that title, sister magazine Metal Hammer, and was a contributor to Prog magazine since its inception in 2009. He died in 2021.