I was very pleased and quite taken aback when I was handed the new Diesel King record to listen to this weekend and given the chance to be one of the first to hear the completed album. Due to be released this coming Friday (16th March) this collection of songs really have been a long time coming as this is their first release since their 3 track demo which came out in late 2010 around the same time that they appeared on the live scene.

The good thing about this lot though is that they have taken their time playing a hell of a lot live shows, finding and perfecting their sound which really has come across so well with these new songs. The immediate comparison that has to be made is to that of the mighty Crowbar, the dual guitar harmonies on the title track and ‘War Song’ show that Diesel King have decided to wear their influences firmly on their sleeve which makes for a much better listening experience. Not to say that they are just mimicking other bands as this really is not the case, a stand out point being the voice of Mark O’Regan (formally of Head On). He has come on leaps and bounds and is a lot nastier and raspier than his previous efforts which massively compliments the brutality of the rest of the guys in the band.

Whoever mixed and mastered these beasts of songs should be crowned as its so brilliantly punchy that the only way to listen to it is as loud as it will go, the only thing I do wish is that the vocals were that tiny bit higher in the mix (only because as a vocalist I want a chance to hear those mighty screams and roars over the top of everything else to see what I have to compete with!) but that really is a touch that is quite irrelevant as this is as near perfect as you can get for a band this early on in their career…. All you need know is BUY IT!

Have a listen to the title track underneath or more importantly get hold of the thing here.

And as most of you may already know, you can have a chance to watch this lot headline the next WPC event shown below: