Album Review: Asomvel – Set Your World On Fire
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
After seeing one of Yorkshire’s finest supporting Airbourne at the Manchester Academy back in February this year, I was genuinely excited about hearing their latest album. That evening they played five songs off “Set Your World on Fire” and it really whetted the appetite, but it still beggars the question, how the hell have they not a got a label to support them?
I first saw Asomvel at Hammerfest in March 2012, and still regularly shout “Kamikaze” at times as I loved that song, but that was a different times with Conan on vocals, however in Ralph Robinson, they have a frontman who has grown in stature and look so comfortable in the live setting with a growl that sounds like he smokes 40 cigarettes a day whilst gargling gravel.
The album opens with “King of the World” which sets the pattern for a gloriously raucous rock n roll album fused with elements of speed metal, encapsulating riotous riffs and rumbustious drumming. As the band say, “get your leathers on, get the tinnies cracked and turn it up `til your head explodes” and that’s an order. “Lone Wolf” continues that trend with the solos punching you repeatedly on your now bloodied nose.
The album title track sees the band taking aim at leaders across the world and works in tandem with the slower paced “World at War”, proving that rock n roll can be both meaningful and serious as well as fun. Sandwiched in-between these two songs is “Back from the Dead (It’s Your Funeral)” which adds further fire to the soundscape. It’s a bit of a bruiser and feels like scraped knuckles after a fight, proving that these guys are taking the music world head on with their belligerent attitude.
The quartet commented that the album “will launch a full-blown assault on your senses” and I can confirm that the more I listen to it, the more this old git resonates with every word. They want to cause a revolution on “Blood Runs Cold” another grenade launching track, and the chaotic theme continues through the barnstorming noise that is “Eye of the Storm”. The furious triumvirate of tracks sees all hell breaking loose on “Your Worst Nightmare” with its old school rhythm, as the band point out that it has “primeval fury you can hear in every chord.”
It is very much how an old school rock album should sound, a throwback some might say, and when you hear the intro of “Into The Fire” you get that instant Motorhead feel, with a boisterous bassline firing on all cylinders. It’s rapid, not too long, and has a powerful solo midway that keeps your interest, but if it’s one song that encapsulates the group, it’s “If It’s Too Loud, You’re Too Old”.
I remember hearing this in February and couldn’t stop smiling and it’s guaranteed to get any crowd, whatever age, working up a sweat as it’s ballsy rock n` roll at its finest. The final two songs, “Take You to Hell” and “Light `em Up” are short blasts that feel like God’s wrath of hellfire and brimstone being cast down upon us unsuspecting mortals, but it further enhances the quality that Asomvel possess. So, sit down, grab a drink and play it loud.
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