I’m fairly confident that I could sum this one up fairly quickly and give us all the chance to get along with what ever is important in our lives. So here goes: It’s metal – very metal. The lyrics are of the Christian variety, Robert Sweet of Stryper plays drums on Nightmare and Come Home. It’s very good.

There you go, will that suffice? (Erm, no! – Editor) Oh, in that case, let’s see what else there is to say then. According to their record company Titanic released two, “classic” albums in 1995 and 2002. Now, I don’t know about you but both of those releases passed me by and therefore Full Steam Ahead must be judged on its own merits – and to be fair, it has a lot going for it.

The main man behind Titanic is Bill Menchen who also plays with Seventh Power and Final Axe and he’s the only member of the band to remain from the earlier releases. For Full Steam Ahead he’s recruited vocalist David St Andrew who sounds, at times, like Kevin DuBrow and/or Vince Neil to these ears. David White plays most of the drums but otherwise it’s all Menchen’s own work.

The most obvious reference points would be Stryper (mainly because of the lyrical content), Iron Maiden and possibly Judas Priest. That’s right folks, honest to goodness Heavy Metal is alive and kicking in 2008, a year that so far, for me, has been somewhat average. Titanic have certainly put out one of the stronger releases that has come across my desk thus far this year.

Don’t be put off by the God bothering lyrics, some of them are quite clever – for instance, guess where the coal is being shovelled in the opening song? That’s right – hell. Can you see what they did there? Even the particularly Christian lyrics would be hard pressed to alienate the most atheistic person (such as myself), wrapped as they are in a glove of metal (he wrote somewhat smugly.)

The best track is Wisdom which also happens to be perhaps the poppiest track herein but is built upon a simple yet effective riff. Upon the Cross which is much heavier is equally as good and features this opening line which has infiltrated my brain in a deeply annoying way; “In the town of Bethlehem is born the Nazarene Gold and Myrrh and frankincense are laid before the King.” Rather like Kylie, I just can’t get it out of my head and I’d actually agree with the band’s Press Release when it says that Full Steam Ahead, “is sure to please the metal heart.”

Let us know your views on Full Steam Ahead 

Track Listing

Shovel The Coal
Dead Mens Bones
Deep Down
Captain Of The Ship
Holy Ground
Sons Of Thunder
Upon The Cross
The Wind
Wisdom
The Sea
Nightmare
Come Home

Line Up

David St. Andrew - Vocals
Bill Menchen - Guitars/Bass/Keyboards
David White - Drums