Sergeant Thunderhoof album releases have been a journey through time. They have gone from 10,000 years BC with debut album Zigurat, via Genesis and then through the birth, life and death of Christ in This Sceptred Veil. Now, with The Ghost Of Badon Hill, we are at around 500 AD, and one thing for sure is that the fall of the Roman Empire has given us some fantastic riff-based Metal.
Sergeant Thunderhoof – The Ghost Of Badon Hill (Pale Wizard Records)
Release Date: Out Now
Words: Steve Ritchie
My path to Sergeant Thunderhoof was via an email click when they were releasing Blood Moon as a single. It is a track that still gives me goosebumps when I listen to it now. If the lengthy musical opening does not have you enthralled, then “It’s pain, wash over you” will ensnare you.
Sergeant Thunderhoof are now a two-guitar band, and for me, this just sits peachy. “The blood moon is all,” chorus is such a wonderful respite from the gritty verse riffing. It has done me on the tube escalator a few times, with headphones blaring, arms out and mouth agape. I got stares. This I want to sing along to with a pint in the air.
Blood Moon is the first of three wonderful songs on Side A of an album that vocalist and lyricist Dan Flitcroft says is their most focused and thoughtful release to date.
“In the past, we’ve not had any limitations when it comes to song lengths and structures,” he said, “as we didn’t have a label calling the shots. But one thing that I knew was needed for this album was to set some boundaries. Foremost of which was the ability to get it onto two sides of vinyl, as opposed to us having to put most of our previous works onto double packages due to the sheer length of the songs.
“So, knowing that we only had 22 minutes or so per side to play with, it forced us to take the songs we had been jamming and sort the wheat from the chaff. Anything that felt unnecessary or superfluous was scrapped, with every moment on the record needing to justify its own place.”
The Ghost Of Badon Hill is two three-song sides of pure genius. If Blood Moon is seven and a half minutes of raunchy joy, its predecessor, Badon, is a brief six minutes of superb scene setting.
A sumptuous acoustic guitar opening longer than most pop-chart “hits” builds through Flitcroft’s wonderful voice to some wonderful two-guitar riffing and melodic soloing. Badon is just ace. The fact that the band fits less than 120 words into a six-minute number shows the space there. As an opener, this is just pure wheat.
Badon rolls wonderfully into the previously mentioned Blood Moon, a song about finding courage and hope when all around is despair. Then we hit The Orb Of Octavia to close side A, and the closest Sergeant Thunderhoof probably get to a love song. We are in concept album territory.
“I came across the theme for the album by sheer accident when out walking with my family,” Flitcroft said. “I had no idea that Bath was a possible location for a real-life battle between the Britons and invading Anglo-Saxons on what was known as Badon Hill.
“There are a few prominent hills in and around our city that have been suggested as possible locations. Famously Peter Gabriel sang about Solsbury Hill many years ago, and that is such a special and romantic place to visit.”
Salvation For The Soul opens Side B, and we are ready for battle. “Through the fear and the pain, The seeds of life remain,” we sing. There is a Sabbath vibe to the riffing, maybe. You can watch the YouTube video above, but that compression is truly awful. It is nowhere near the quality listening to it on the album.
The theme of Salvation For The Soul is that we will probably die in tonight’s battle. But Heavy Metal does have that unique styling that makes the listener feel that, yea, that is ok. You do get swept along, smiling and accepting that your innards may soon be outwards.
“I got lost down a rabbit hole of facts, speculation, mythology and fantasy,” Flitcroft said. “I very quickly focussed on a story of simple people leading simple lives, forced to do amazing things to protect themselves and their kind. Having this narrative ticking away in my brain whilst working on the songs with the band really helped shape the feel and emotional journey that the songs take you on.”
Sentinel opens with atmospheric guitars once more. At this point, we might be bleeding to death. “I have spent my life, Running away from All the things I am afraid of.” Jim Camp’s bass pushes the melody for the first half, with Darren Ashman’s drums in a dreamy tandem of punch and tempo.
A second half of guitar-led magnificence leads to a melancholic finish as your soul drifts away to the sombre piano. I’ve not read the liner notes, which I believe are a spoiler, so my drifting soul is just in my head and not necessarily the band’s.
Beyond The Hill closes the album. Camp’s bass swings as you have left your body, and you now sweep through the clouds. We are in near eleven-minute territory. It’s an epic doom-led finish, as a Hammond-style single note is surrounded by slow-paced heaviness.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this work,” Flitcroft says, “and the fantastic contribution that all of the members of the band brought to the table.”
A repeating guitar lick closes the last eight lines of the story, the whole something wonderfully told by a superb and skilful set of musicians. The Ghost Of Badon Hill is infectious listening when you immerse yourself and commit.
It is difficult to say how overjoyed I was that I clicked that Blood Moon single email. As the story of The Ghost Of Badon Hill closes, you realise that this contains everything that you want in an album. Now I just have to see it live.
“I’m commanded to die here alone, up on the hill,” they sing.
The story fades to birdsong.
