ABSOLUTE POWER

If Shane Embury ever stopped making music and devising new ways to make us all deaf, you suspect that he would instantaneously burst into flame. As documented in his excellent memoir "Life? And Napalm Death", the UK grindcore gods' much-loved and quietly legendary bassist has been an absolute fiend for side-projects and bonus bands over the last four decades. His productivity has seemingly increased in recent years, with his fascinating and prolific DARK SKY BURIAL project and first solo album, "Bridge To Resolution" proving to be yet more strings to his bulbous bow. But while the majority of his endeavors have been at the mind-bending, ear-shattering end of the sonic scale, ABSOLUTE POWER must surely rank as one of his most sincere and uncomplicated flights of musical fancy. A defiantly old-school heavy metal band in every sense, this collaboration with esteemed producer (and vocalist) Simon Efemy confirms that Embury's roots are still firmly planted in the fertile soil of British metal, and on their second album, which arrives a trifling 15 years after the first (he's been busy!),sheer joy pours from every riff and melody.

As with 2011's "Absolute Power", "Needs Must When The Devil Drives" is very much a collaborative effort, wherein Embury and Efemy are joined by a host of like-minded compadres, from ex-CANCER drummer Carl Stokes, and current NAPALM DEATH guitarist John Cooke, through to the inestimable Tim "Ripper" Owens, who lends his formidable screams to the monstrous opening title track. With artwork that could not be more fitting if it came with a lock of K.K. Downing's hair, "Needs Must…" makes no bones about its dedication to tradition and old-school thinking, and every single song leaps from the speakers like some long-lost SAXON outtake upgraded to accommodate maximum contemporary heft.

There are two slight deviations from the pumped-up NWOBHM worship. "Within" takes its cues from BLACK SABBATH's "Planet Caravan" and spins away on a dreamy, semi-acoustic trajectory, gently whacked bongos included for textural veracity; and a cover of QUEEN's proto-speed metal gem "Sheer Heart Attack" sticks respectfully to the original blueprint but adds a degree of venom and vitality that would have singed Freddie's moustache off back in 1974. But in every other respect, this is an album full of brutish, muscular heavy metal anthems with a noble and honest debt to SAXON, PRIEST, MAIDEN and Dio-era BLACK SABBATH (with a dash of ACCEPT thrown in). The title track is a riotous call-to-arms with a central hook the size of Birmingham City Center. "Stand Up and Be Counted" is not a SAXON cover, but it has all the energy and power of prime Biff and co, and multiple riffs that will haunt your cerebral cortex for weeks. "Hammer of Justice" is brash and sweaty enough to give MANOWAR a sleepless night or two, and both "Mountain of Hope" and the closing "Orphans of the Storm" nail that irresistible Dio-like melodrama and theatrical bombast that made the '80s such a colorful and life-affirming era to live through. Throughout it all, Simon Efemy's vocals are an unfussy, baritone roar of authenticity and sincerity, and the whole triumphant enterprise could not be more quintessentially British if it tried. Heavy metal from its spiritual homeland, "Needs Must When The Devil Drives" is a wonderful thing. Let's hope we don't have to wait another 15 years for a follow-up.