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The combination of Grand Magus’s JB and Arch Enemy duo Michael Amott and Sharlee D’Angelo was a holy union on 2005’s Demons, but Spiritual Beggars have had other moments of glory that rubber-stamp this so-called side-project with something much more than a flight of fancy.

There’s always an element of reinvention with this band and they don’t stop at Earth Blues, their second album with ex-Firewind singer Apollo Papathanasio. He might not have the chops of JB but he gives his best Glenn Hughes for the sake of this throwback to the early days of SB.

Once again we get a solid repertoire of 70s hard rock fused with stoner/doom from a pedigree lineup more than conversant with the Rainbow/Deep Purple/Dio songbook. These sprightly odes are distinctively retro, even with Michael’s fiery, arena-sized solos, which might not appeal to fans of their more stonery albums. But heck, they do it well.

With over 10 years’ experience writing for Metal Hammer and Prog, Holly has reviewed and interviewed a wealth of progressively-inclined noise mongers from around the world. A fearless voyager to the far sides of metal Holly loves nothing more than to check out London’s gig scene, from power to folk and a lot in between. When she’s not rocking out Holly enjoys being a mum to her daughter Violet and working as a high-flying marketer in the Big Smoke.