Firebird
Deluxe

Which important musical figure hides behind the anonymous moniker of "The Firebird"? I am convinced that many (!!) of you have asked this question once you opened the page and started reading today's review by the charming GG.

Let me explain right away then: Bill Steer.

But I also believe that for most of my readers, the name just mentioned means little or nothing; and so it is necessary to highlight the two bands that our person was involved with at the beginning of his career in the latter half of the now distant 1980s. I am referring to Napalm Death and Carcass: Bill was a true pioneer, one of the cornerstones, one of the initiators of Grindcore and Death Metal on English soil. And of its filthy spread, which happened very quickly, throughout Europe.

After about ten years involved in such stunning sounds, he suddenly decides to turn, momentarily, the page; Carcass is placed in a kind of forced standby (in fact, to be precise, they disband) after the release of the experimental and little-understood "Swansong". From there, the step was short because he formed Firebird, recruiting Leo Smee (Cathedral) on bass and Ludwig Witt (Spiritual Beggars) on drums. Bill handles the guitar, masterfully I might add, and the vocals.

The cover image is able to provide very valid elements to understand which side the sound generated by the power trio is heading; the same can be said by observing the many photos placed inside the booklet; photos that depict the band in clothing reeking of the sixties and especially the seventies. Deluxe is their second album released in 2001.

Hard Rock Blues put together with accuracy and expertise, without lingering too much on the length of the individual tracks. About forty minutes played "all out"; an honest work, with a strong impact thanks to the perfect cohesion of the musicians and a production capable of bringing out Bill's sparkling six-string work. A continuous construction of riffs, drawing heavily from the best school of the years I have already pointed out; it follows that the terms of comparison are directed towards Hendrix, Stevie Ray, the Toad of my fellow citizen Vic Vergeat. But it's not over because you can easily add Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple as well.

A work that perhaps has the only flaw of reaching too much into the past; of course, if the comparisons are those indicated, such records are more than welcome! Another element, somewhat disconcerting, is Bill's crystal-clear voice, the opposite of the primordial Growl he used at the beginning of his career.

The last track of the collection is anthological; it's about "Slow Blues" complete with harmonica that, unlike the title, is a frenzied gallop where the Firebird lets loose in a three-minute mad rush: it feels like being in those smoky Texan inns just a stone's throw from the Mexican border. A contagious jolt of life!!!

Diabolos Rising 666.