The Deep – Premonition

Perseverance is a word not used lightly by The Deep which is why Premonition has finally seen the light of day as all of the songs apart from ‘Cold Hearted’ (which was written in the early 90’s) were written in the early 80’s. The band were known then as Deep Machine who split due to internal differences but a chance rehearsal in 2012 of the 1982 line up lead them to reforming. Contractural reasons forced them to change their name to The Deep but the band soldiered on.

Premonition was self financed and produced but gig priorities meant it was not recorded/mixed until January 2015, then released in March and can now be purchased from the band at http://thedeepuk.band/.

The Deep are at the melodic side of NWOBHM but their songs still pack plenty of punch, proven by the ten heavyweights on Premonition. Opener ‘The Rider’ has an infectious main riff that gets the listener’s head nodding immediately. Tony Coldham’s vocals have always reminded me of Biff Byford but with a higher range, point proven by his delivery here. The guitar solos midway are the icing on the cake. Other choice cuts are the commercially heavy rock of ‘You Take My Breath Away’. Big harmonies in the chorus and driving drum patterns keep the quality up.

‘Nightstalker’ strangely enough after having a few beers reviewing this, reminded me of a cross between ‘Street Rats’ by Ted Nugent and ‘Looks That Kill’ by Motley Crue! Another lung busting vocal and killer chorus make it a contender for best track on the album. It shifts into overdrive midway before returning to the main riff to close it. ‘Cold Hearted’ is a monster rock ballad in the vein of Led Zep’s ‘Ramble On’. The pleading vocal makes it even more powerful. 

    ‘All I Want’ has a ‘Holy Diver’ vibe but giving the age of these songs, it could be the other way round! Intense band harmonies and inventive drum patterns from Steve Kingsley push the bar even higher. The title track has a spiralling Wishbone Ash like guitar intro as this six minute opus is an air guitarist’s heaven as the pulverizing riffs and solos dominate. ‘Saga’, another huge ballad is another vocal tour de force following a spine tingling intro. Album closer and my personal favourite is ‘Turn Me Loose’. It brings Premonition to an uptempo finish with crushing riffs and fluid, twin guitar leads.

The Deep band line up :-

Tony Coldham – Lead vocals.

Paul Smith – Guitars.

Mick Feleppa – Guitars.

Don Whiberley – Bass guitar.

Steve Kingsley – Drums.

Album track listing :-

The Rider.

You Take My Breath Away.

Nightstalker.

Cold Hearted.

All I Want.

Out Of Touch.

Premonition.

Spellbound.

Saga.

Turn Me Loose.