Line of fire – Nothing in my way

Eleven years after forming, Nottingham band Line of Fire have finally released their debut album. So why has it taken so long? Cynics will point to the fact the band was founded by Lawnmower Deth guitarist Paddy O’Malley, and since Lawnmower Deth have only managed to release a couple of songs in that time then a whole album is pretty good in comparison (must be the rest of the band being a good influence). Of course to be fair, Line of Fire have already released three EPs – “Hear me scream”, “Purple sky” and “Nowhere to go”. Now though they’ve released their debut album. While it may only have 8 tracks, you’re certainly not being short-changed as the shortest track is well over five minutes long, and the album clocks in at around 50 minutes which is a good length (and as older fans will know, is longer than most albums used to be due to the limitations of vinyl).

So, with the involvement of a member of Lawnmower Deth, is it going to be high speed silliness? Not at all – this is closer to Down than Lawnmower Deth – it’s Bluesy hard rock with nice heavy downtuned riffs and that same sort of slower pace you associate with bands like Down. They’ve got the balance of rock/metal and blues just right so it’s nice and heacy but without losing the blues melodies.

You’ve got one track here from “Nowhere to go” (Wrong side of the tracks), and one from “Purple sky” (Purple sky), but the other six are new songs and they sound great.

The production is excellent – everything is crystal clear and the mix is perfect, so you get the heavy riffs without losing any of the other sounds. It’s an album best played nice and loud through decent speakers turned up till the windows start to rattle and you can no longer hear the neighbours banging on the wall hoping you’ll turn it down. Line of Fire may have taken 11 years to release their debut album but they made sure that when they came to release an album it was worth the wait. A great album.

“Nothing in my way” is available from http://www.Lineoffireuk.bandcamp.com

Track listing:

1. Gonna get you
2. Fallen from grace
3. The road ahead
4. Something ain’t right
5. Fuck me
6. One war
7. Purple sky
8. Wrong side of the tracks

Line of fire are:

Paddy O’Malley – Guitar;
Dave Lamont – Guitar;
Baz Shaw – Bass/Vocals;
Ste Dudley – Drums