Comeback albums. Everybody's at it these days. And to be honest the majority of them achieve nothing but to make you wonder why the drug-decrepit relics even bothered. Dogs Of War however is one of the rare yet brilliant examples where the band have resurfaced all guns blazing. Instead of mellowing with age it's almost as if NWOBHM veterans Soldier have cryogenically preserved their vigorous performing style and energy for the past thirty years, only to be unleashed again by a new line-up of musicians on this colossal third LP.
In some parts (Lock 'N' Load, I Can't Breathe and Forever) the album seems to race through so rapidly you'd be forgiven for thinking that Ian Dick and his heavy metal comradery had mounted jet-propelled skateboards, whereas songs like the bonus track remake of 1982's Sheralee are driven not by turbocharged rockets but rather by the crazily anthemic and extravagant guitar solos that this band do so love to grind out.
As a whole Dogs Of War sounds like the exact sort of thing that the shaggy haired metallers would have been banging their manes along to back in the heydey of '79. It's unapologetically dad rocky. But most undeniably of all - thirty four years down the line from their formation - Soldier have still got the ability to absolutely blow your socks off.
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