Blaze Bayley
PROMISE AND TERROR
Blaze Bayley Recordings

Much like Ripper Owens and JUDAS PRIEST, it's going to be next to impossible to ever hear Blaze Bayley's voice and not associate it with his two releases with the legendary IRON MAIDEN. Much like Owens, I never felt like Bayley was given much to do in his one big chance. Both of those MAIDEN albums were awful in my opinion, but more due to poor writing and execution than anything Bayley brought to the table. Unlike Owens who jumped from JUDAS PRIEST into ICED EARTH, Bayley made the decision to use his stint in the limelight as a springboard to a solo career. In this, his second solo album, fans should be convinced that he more than has the talent to sustain such a career.

Promise and Terror is a pretty stunning affair. While it would be easy to give all the credit to the man whose name is prominent on the album cover, that would be taking away from just how good a band Bayley has assembled. Nicolas Bermudez and Jay Walsh bring a wall of pounding riffs and technical solos that are securely backed up by the rhythm section of bassist David Bermudez and drummer Lawrence Patterson. The whole album sounds like a really good YNGWIE MALMSTEEN album with much better bottom end. To be honest, doesn't Bayley seem like a natural fit as a future MALMSTEEN frontman. (much like Owens was last year by the way)

There are 11 tracks on Promise and Terror and from top to bottom they will kick your ass. "Watcher In the Night Sky" gets the affair kicked off in the right direction. It's a power metal smoker that sets the listener up for what is coming the next hour. As good as the opening track is though, it is nowhere near the strongest song in the set. In fact it might be the weakest, and that is saying something because I liked it a lot. When you consider tracks like "Madness and Sorrow" "God of Speed" "City of Bones" "Faceless" and "Time To Dare" you will understand what I mean. Still, even all those can't match "1633", a massive mid paced chugger that crushed my skull and now stands as my favorite Bayley song of his long career.

PITRIFF RATING - 9/10 - Like I said, maybe Bayley will never wash the stench of those two IRON MAIDEN albums off, but Promise and Terror could go a long way to helping in that effort. Bayley has assembled an impressive group of musicians and along with them crafted the best album of his 25 year career.

Shawn Gould