Paul Hutchings comes over all Icarus and flies towards the big shiny thing in the sky… will his wings melt before his ears as he checks out the upcoming new album from Bloodmores!

Great Harwood isn’t somewhere I was able to point to on a map of the UK. In fact, I thought it was some poncy town in the home counties with a conservative MP and village fetes. All cream teas and ladies in hats. 

But after twenty secondsof ‘Virulence’, the opening track on Bloodmores second album ‘Too Close to the Sun’ I was reassured. It exploded out of the speakers and attached itself to my lugholes in a manner that only a riff-driven Northern band could do. Reassured, I noted that the band are from the Hyndburn district of Lancashire, which explains the grit and ferocity that oozes through this bludgeoning aural assault. 

Bloodmores comprise Connor Heelis on bass, drummer Chris Mansell and guitarists Richard Jodrelland Alex Cunliffe who also provides the guttural vocal roars. ‘Too Close to the Sun’ is a mighty mixture of thrash and death metal with an underlying groove that should ensure their appeal is wider than merely fans of one genre. There’s a welcome familiarity as you get stuck into this album. ‘Terminal Diagnosis’ and ‘Crypt of the Blasphemous’ have a drive and power that instantly gets the head nodding. If this was being played live, you’d struggle to restrain yourself from diving into the pit. The chugging riffage may be recognisable but Bloodmores have a contemporary style which is fresh and their own.

The switch during the pummelling ‘White Noise’ allows the band to open the throttle all the way and Cunliffe’s growling roars appear to be generated from deeper and deeper. There are times when you are expecting his oesophagus to land on the floor next to you, such is the strain he places on his delivery. Having reached this far into the album, with one ear barely hanging on from the eruptions through the headphones, it was something of a surprise to hear Bloodmores ease back for around 30 seconds, provide a breather before hitting some more massive riffs.

The more you listen to this album, the more you are pinned into your seat. The album may peak time wise with ‘White Noise’ and the title track, the two six-minute plus tracks on the album forming the pyramid in the centre. The latter is an all-out thrashing beast, which draws in influences from several UK thrash outfits and whilst there is clear evidence of influences, (bit of Sylosis creeps in for example), the band retain their own stamp on their music. It’s solid, it’s loud and in your face. It demands you bang your head. 

But then we arrive at the sting in the tail. ‘Suicide Pact’ already released as single number two a couple of weeks ago is a relentless battery which gives no quarter. And the band maintain that intensity for the final three tracks, concluding with yet another bruising assault, the aptly named ‘Defiant to The End’, a final stomp of the size 12s to the face. 

The UK thrash scene continues to pulse with a quality we haven’t seen for years. Bloodmores second album stands loud and proud amongst their peers. One to watch, and more importantly to buy when it is released.

Bloodmores – Too Close To the Sun is out on the 26th March 2021 and available to pre-order on BandCamp as digital or physical copes, plus some nice new Merch HERE