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Rating: Indomitable, stubborn, and consistent. These three words would be enough to succinctly describe Blaze Bayley. A person who, despite the adversities that life has placed before him, has never lost sight of his goals, and above all, has always remained true to himself. Neither after being dismissed from Iron Maiden, nor after the period of depression that hit him between 2002 and 2004, nor even after the death of his wife in 2008 due to a second stroke, Blaze never gave up. In a little over 15 years of career, the English singer has managed to transform his emotions, his anger, and his eagerness to challenge himself into music. Many will say that the choices this man has made might be reckless, such as deciding to embark on a solo career after his dismissal from the Iron Maiden, even more audacious was his decision to establish his own record label in 2008, ignoring and putting aside once and for all the warnings, limits, and criticisms that the latter placed before him at every turn. But he is still here, undeterred by the criticisms thrown at him, supported solely by his fans.
In 2016, his eighth album, "Infinite Entanglement", saw the light, the first release of a trilogy based on an astronaut, William Black, who initially is set to embark on a journey to a new world to establish a second humanity, only to discover that the commanders of this mission intend to kill Black at the end of his mission and then colonize the new planet with superior species. From here, Black's mission turns into a revenge against those who sent him on this suicide mission, to confront them once and for all. For the realization of these three albums, Blaze has partially resumed the sounds of his first album "Silicon Messiah" (2000), harsher and more direct, and the themes of the subsequent "The Tenth Dimension" (2002), and the result is truly astounding. If with "Infinite Entanglement" one could notice a renewed inspiration on Bayley's part, especially musically, along with a wise use of dialogues between songs, the expectations for the successor were quite high, and personally, I can say that they have been widely met.
"Endure And Survive", this is the title of the new release, which in the narrative marks Black's discovery of the company's plan that sent him on the mission, and can be considered, at least until now, as one of the best heavy releases of 2017. Accompanied like in the previous album by Absolva, an excellent English band, and a simple but in this case fitting cover, Blaze is ready to tell this new adventure.
Let's immediately get a pebble out of the shoe by listing the weak points of the album, which I personally see only in one point, that is the song "Destroyer", which although it turns out to be a good piece, becomes excessively banal in the chorus, and has a solo that resembles too much that of "Calling You Home", a song present in the previous album. What remains of the album can be described with a single word, inspired. "Blood" is martial in its stride, with verses that grow increasingly to culminate in a perfect chorus. "Remember" is not the usual ballad of the album, as many might think at first listen, but a track that with a skillful use of violins and almost folk atmospheres manages to immerse the listener in the thoughts of William Black and his doubts about his mission. A similar discourse applies to "Eating Lies", however without the use of violins, but with Blaze's solo voice holding everything perfectly. More lively and energetic are "The Dawn Of The Dead Son" and "Escape Velocity", with the first being more complex and having a great bass work, while the second can be categorized as a finely crafted heavy piece. A surprise in closure, "Together We Can Move The Sun", divided into three distinct parts, a first and a third acoustic, while the second manages to unleash all its power. Forgive the repetition, but even here it is impossible not to mention Blaze's perfect singing, which especially in the acoustic parts, gives his best.
What I personally could witness at the end of the listening is the fact of finally having found a Blaze Bayley inspired and aware of his possibilities. What we have in front of us is the product made by an artist who never stopped believing, never backed down, and who for the past year seems to have been reborn. I can only tell you not to listen to this album with the usual prejudices about Blaze Bayley because the one you will hear is not the boy who in '96 sang off-key pieces like "The Trooper", no. What you will have before you is a humble, sincere, and honest artist like never before.
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