THE CHRONICLE OF THE BLACK SWORD

This album is often hailed as the only eighties record (except for Levitation) Hawkwind made that really hits the spot. It has some interesting light heavy metal sounds with typical eighties drums. The lyrical context is said to be a continuation of the Warrior on the Egde of Time period. Between most spacey metal tracks we find electronic interludes that aren't integrated at all. They are just there. This is something Hakwind would greatly improve live and on some of their nineties albums like Electric Tepee and Alien 4.

Back to this album. Some of the metal riffs are quite catchy and a few guitar solo's with reverb sound quite interesting. The vocals don't stand out for a Hawkwind album, but they aren't too bad either. The overly simplistic drums and the poor mixing are perhaps its greatest weaknesses. Had the guitars sounded louder and more dangerous this album might have been twice as fun to listen to. The overall production leaves much to be desired as well, though stylistically it has some interesting ideas. On this record Hawkwind isn't that far removed from Sowhere in Time / Seventh Son era Iron Maiden.

One must admit that songs like Song of the Swords, The Sea King and Horn of Destiny could make great live tracks. That is why I would put my money on the Live Chronicles live album of 1986. For the studio version of The Chronicle of the Black Sword itself I can't reach the good/non-essential mark, this would mainly be interesting for fans of the band.

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