At first glance, Hell Destroyer seems to wonderful value for money, however, in a move reminiscent of Manowar’s latest opus, Cage have chosen to fill the running time with copious amounts of theatrical storylines and dialogue that in my humble opinion get in the way of the music. It actually turns out that there are only thirteen songs on the CD, not the twenty-one promised on the cover.  

Obviously the observant amongst you have worked out that this is a, gulp, concept album. “The concept story of "HELL DESTROYER" travels through time from the Crucifixion up to a modern day New World Order, to a demonic invasion of the earth and finally the resurrection of the Metal Devil himself 100 years after the end of the world! This massive epic is 75 minutes of relentless head banging with the soon to be classics that only CAGE can deliver …” runs the Press Release. Unfortunately, so generic and uninspired is Cage’s work, I’d argue that almost anyone could deliver a similar record. 

There is quite a lot to like about Hell Destroyer, in particular the guitars of Dave Garcia and Anthony Wayne McGinnis get a good work out and are occasionally inspired. Sean Peck is an OK vocalist, he hits all the right notes … but taken as a whole, there’s just something missing on this album. There’s not much wrong but even after a number of listens, I just felt a little under whelmed. 

Cage are another of those bands that wear their influences on their sleeves and the first “real” song, the titular Hell Destroyer sounds remarkably like Judas Priest and as such works fine. It’s not remotely original but it is good. Elsewhere there’s a nod to the Maiden on various tracks but there’s nothing like the song writing capability of the aforementioned bands. 

It is rumoured that Cage will make it over to Europe in the second half of 2007 – maybe they are one of those bands that thrive in the live environment. Let’s hope so, because for me, this is just too run of the mill.