From escaping their leash and running amok in the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene of the early eighties to being put to sleep just five years later, Tysondog may have only had a short life but still managed to make a name for themselves in a highly competitive scene. A packed Neat Records roster including the likes of Raven, Saracen, Avenger and Venom, plus a proliferation of compilation albums available at the time helped the band attain a level of prominence, their song ‘Eat the Rich’ featuring on the likes of British Steel, Metal Killers Vol 2, and Axe Attack.

However, long-standing international fame was not on the cards for Tysondog and with their ashes scattered across the back yard, the Geordie act was seemingly consigned to the pages of metal history. Nobody in their right mind would ever have expected a Stephen King style Pet Sematary resurrection story but in 2008 the North Easterners went and surprised everyone. The re-animation process continued with the release of a four track EP of re-recorded material in 2012 followed by their first full length in almost thirty years in 2015. Now, seven years later and with teeth bared, the band re-emerge from their kennel with fourth album Midnight (From The Vaults).

Beginning in the trenches of World War I, opener ‘Batallion’ gets things off to a Saxon style start, vocalist John Clutch Carruthers stretching his gruff vocals cords right from the off, the insistent ‘It Lives’ following closely behind. ‘Hellbound’ boasts a big, chunky riff with Carruthers taking centre stage for the verses while ‘Defiant’ is borderline thrash with a Slayer-esque middle section and a frantic, dive-bombing solo.

 

The title track counters jerky rhythms with a smooth, crawling chorus similar to early nineties Judas Priest before Carruthers warns “I am vengeance, I am wrath” on the bruising ‘Dead Man Walking’, a song bolstered by machine gun drumming and a US power metal flavour. ‘Paper Cuts’ begins with a quiet Iron Maiden intro, Carruthers’ voice not a million miles from Blaze Bayley as the song builds into something more portentous before giving way to the brooding chug of penultimate cut ‘Cold Day in Hell’ and downbeat closer ‘Waiting for God’.

 

Original members, bassist Kev Wynn and guitarist Paul Burdis do a sterling job in backing Carruthers’ distinctive voice, aided by second guitarist Stevie Morrison and drummer Phil Brewis, who puts in a serious shift with some excellent double-kick work. Although constant comparisons to the likes of Priest and Saxon plagued their early years, it’s good to find the band sticking to their guns on Midnight, wearing their influences proudly and delivering a damn fine modern NWOBHM record.

 

Buy the album here: https://targetshop.dk/vare/tysondog-midnight-lp-marbled-red

 

7 / 10

GARY ALCOCK