Some bands deserved better cards than the one's they were dealt. British metal band Marshall Law were one of those bands. Formed towards the end of the 80's by guitarist Dave Martin and vocalist Andy Pyke in the rough and tumble city of Birmingham, a city that certainly knows a thing or two about breeding metal bands (Black Sabbath, Judas Priest etc…), Marshall Law quickly developed a loyal following not only in Europe but in Japan as well.
The band's second album Power Game originally released back in 1993 and now recently reissued by Angel Air Records was a lethal offering of classic sounding British heavy metal. Rounded out by guitarist Andy Southwell, bassist Roger Davis and drummer Lee Morris, Power Game which was produced by fellow Brit rocker Robin George found the group moving in a slightly heavier direction from their self titled 1990 debut album.
The twin attack of Martin and Southwell finds the duo digging deep into the bag of tricks and coming up with a surplus of meaty riffs and inspired solos which give these tracks the required thrust they need, while Pike's vocals soar majestically overtop the aggressive and yet melodic anthems "Chain Of Youth" and the title track. What's somewhat surprising about Power Game is that unlike the large majority of metal bands of the day who were only interested in writing about sex, drugs and rock 'n roll Marshall Law seemed to actually be conscious about the issues going on in the world around them. For example they address racism and AIDS on "Another Generation" and "Naked Aggression" respectively, while ""No Justice" talks about the forgotten children of Africa, and "Psychodrama" tackles what happens to kids when their parents split up.
Power Game is rock solid from beginning to end and this one holds up incredibly well almost twenty years later. Repeated listens are required to further demonstrate just how vastly underrated these talented Brummie's really were.
Note: Pike and Martin are still going strong having resurrected Marshall Law in 2006. They released a brand new album entitled Razorhead back in 2008.
Track Listing
1) Chain Of Youth
2) Another Generation
3) No Justice
4) Searching For Paradise
5) Naked Aggression
6) Power Game
7) Edge Of The World
8) Psychodrama
9) Dead Zone
10) Leviathan
11) Naked Aggression (Single)
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