BLOOD OF THE EARTH

Good old Hawkwind. Just like like a Nordic warrior, Dave Brock will meet his end while wielding his sword in battle, in his case that will be while performing yet another surging live gig. I just hadn't thought he would deliver such a coherent studio album again, the best since Alien 4.

For sure, the band spent more time on writing good decent tunes this time. The obvious result is an attractive album and that listens away easily. The disadvantage is less experimentation then usual and songwriting that remains very old-school and predictable. In fact, most songs sound like they could be on any other Hawkwind album released since 1990. An exception comes from the interesting opener Seahawks.

A nice surprise comes with new recruit mr. Dibs on bass/vocals. His voice has a bit of a new wave/post-punk quality to it and in combination with the stark mechanical rhythms, tracks like Wraith and Prometheus almost sound like Killing Joke-light. Not a bad thing of course, both are amongst the better tracks on the album, together with the space ballads Comfy Chair and Sentinel.

On the downside, some of the material is Hawkwind by the numbers: new-age like Green Machine, Aor-punk like Sweet Obsession and the mandatory remake track You'd Better Believe It. We've heard that type of material so many times already. The sound has found a good balance between the solid grooving rhythmic basis (drums, bass and guitar) and their lush synth carpets and electronic sounds. The only thing missing to bring it all alive is the energy boost that the band gets when performing live. So rest assured, if the band performs this material in their live set it will rule.

A welcome return for Dave Brock and cohorts but it all pales a bit against the younger bands that took over galactic space in the last decade. This album is a nice addition for fans but no match for the many excellent releases of 2010.