British heavy metallers Heavy Sentence are Motörhead, Exciter, Thin Lizzy, and Midnight swirled in a drunken stupor at the bottom of a Dobber IPA; discarded cigarettes floating maliciously in the brew, of course. Since forming (or is it foaming?) sometime during the last five-six years, the Mancunian quintet–featuring members of Wode and Eliminator–are aiming low-to-high with their New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal (NWOTHM). Heavy Sentence have mostly partied and barfed on sidewalks of Hulme while the rest of the world rotated on unaware before today. To wit, the Heavy ones released several 7-inch EPs–namely, Protector / Darkest Hour and Edge of the Knife / Heavy Vengeance–before catching the blacklit (poster) eyes of German throwback connoisseurs Dying Victims Productions.
Together, they’re ridin’ the Metrolink right into 1983 on new album, Bang to Lights. Featuring such bar-brawl bangers like “On the Run,” “Medusa,” “Capitoline Hill,” and album capper “Broken Hearts,” Heavy Sentence have blue-collar anthems in spades. This is the heavy metal of the worker, the toiler, and the tuff. There are no orchestral hits, cute female vocals, or folk nonsense. No, this is hard-hitting, flag-waving music from today inspired by yesteryear when denim and leather meant denim and leather–and neck tattoos weren’t fashion statements.
Say Heavy Sentence from the smouldering ashes of The Benchill: “We’re really proud of the album. It sounds like our practice room floor looks after a heavy weekend rehearsal. Let’s call it a lived-in feel. And Mike would’ve loved it.”
That Mike call out is to former guitarist Mike Woods, who passed away in October 2019. Indeed, let’s raise a pint, an old leather jacket, and a “Fast” Eddie Clarke fast boogie to Woods, Heavy Sentence, and new album, Bang to Lights. It’s a riff ‘n’ chips kind of day here!
