Heaven Forbid [Import]

As a long standing BOC fan with all of their albums in my collection, I was absolutely delighted with 'Heaven Forbid'. It grabs you by the throat from the start and never lets up. The variety of the songwriting is striking as always but this album has a focus and an edge which few others can match. Each song stays fresh and punchy from start to finish without a dull moment, and the playing itself is spectacular, particularly the drumming and guitar work. For the aficionados of heavy, 'Hammer Back' offers a beautifully crunchy guitar sound together with suitably cutting lyrics. On the more delicate side, 'Live For Me' has a lot of grace without succumbing to oversentimentality. I sum up by saying that the album really sounds like 10 years of great ideas condensed and moulded into a really powerful package on all levels. It's not often that a band which has made many albums comes out with something with the potential to win a lot of new fans. This is one such album, and if I had to take one of their albums only to a desert island, this would probably be the one (though Secret Treaties comes pretty close...)

from the opening chords of "See You In Black" you know BOC are back, and back in style. Tempos vary and lead vocals alternate from song to song between Eric and Buck.

Highlights for me are Harvest Moon (with a wonderfully sinister ghost story feel to it), Damaged (a wonderfully fast-paced heavy rocker) and the previously mentioned See You In Black.

However, the whole album stands up as a strong new collection of great tracks and it's good to have this band back.

I really struggled to like this album upon its' release and it has taken more than a few listens over the years to convince me of its merit. I returned to it after BOC released the fabulous 'Cult of the Hidden Mirror' and I'm very glad I did. While I'd love to be as enamoured of this album as the reviewer below unfortunately there are a few sub-par tracks on this much hoped for 90's Cult 'comeback' for it to warrant a 5 star review. For sure the bone crushingly heavy opener 'See You In Black' harks back to the early glories of 'Tyranny & Mutation' but it's too much like a Metallica out-take for me and lacks the dynamics of say '7 Screaming Diz Busters'. However, 'Harvest Moon' is another outstanding mid-paced melodic rocker from the pen of lead Cultster Donald 'Buck Dharma' Roeser. Likewise 'Power Underneath Despair' is a damn fine heavy rocker from Eric Bloom with it's hard riff and straight ahead chorus it wouldn't be out of place on 'Cultosaurus Erectus'. Unfortunately Roeser's 'X-Ray Eyes' is marred as it recalls the duff pop of the poor 'Mirrors' album tagged with another 'Metallica style' riff, but with the band's trademark tempo changes and a fine solo from Roeser it's just about rescued from mediocrity. While 'X-ray' is a worthy attempt neither 'Hammer Back' or 'Damaged' really shine although the latter does have some sterling fretwork from Roeser. Thankfully 'Cold Light of Dawn' sees the Cult return to their epic and majestic best and recalls the fabulous 'Fire of Unknown Origin', again with a superb slow burning solo from Roeser. Roeser's sublime 'Real World' with its bluesy acoustic guitar provides a welcome turn of pace and recalls the glories of 'Spectres'. Likewise Roeser scores again with 'Live For Me' which sounds like an update of 'Club Ninja's mighty 'Perfect Water' which is no bad thing, for me it's the album's highlight. I wish I could say the same for 'Still Burnin' which again like 'X-Ray' is a good attempt that doesn't quite hold it together. The curious inclusion of a live take of Allan Lanier's 'In Thee' from '79s 'Mirrors' album is rather out of sorts with the rest of the album as it was never one of the Cult's finest to begin with. This acoustic 'unplugged' take does showcase the Cult's fine harmony vocals with some nice keys from Lanier and as a 'bonus' extra it's a nice addition if for only whetting the appetite of a possible BOC 'unplugged' album - hmmmmmm......now that sounds intriguing.

Like I say I've grown to really like this album and while I rate 'Curse of the Hidden Mirror' above it it's still a rewarding BOC album and shows that while their output may be sporadic they're always worth listening to.