Canadian heavy metal pioneers Anvil are back with their eighteenth studio album, with ‘Legal at Last’ set for release on Friday 14 February through AFM Records. Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow & Robb Reiner have once again continued to drive the band forward and with bass player Chris Robertson playing on his third successive album and firmly in place as the final piece of the band’s jigsaw, Anvil have delivered another solid body of work since their rebirth following the success of the 2009 documentary ‘The Story of Anvil’. 2018’s ‘Pounding the Pavement’ proved that the trio are continually writing & recording material of worth as they go from strength to strength.
With a long list of the world’s finest heavy rock bands crediting & complimenting Anvil on their invention & development of early metal music, Lips & co have created a collection of twelve tracks that will comfortably stand up next to some of their more recent offerings. Never a band to care too much to what others think, Anvil’s ‘Legal at Last’ gives a firm nod of the head towards Canada’s legalized cannabis laws, with the album cover depicting an Angel smoking an anvil shaped bong but the title also let’s everyone know they are finally feeling more accepted by the industry in general, after years of hard work & at times isolation.
After the initial audio of someone lighting up a bong, the album begins with the title track which is fast-paced metal mayhem at its finest, with a harmonic chorus to boot, an extra dimension that Robertson has brought to proceedings. ‘Nabbed in Nebraska’ let’s Reiner exhibit some of his trademark drum work, showing just why he is still lauded at one of the best in the business. ‘Chemtrails’ will have you singing along to the chorus even after the first listen such is the catchy pick up and it’s a song that could almost have been written to be dueted with Lip’s former friend Lemmy Kilmister. ‘Gasoline’ has that classic Anvil doom metal feel about it with Lips letting fly with some really tight bluesy-metal guitar work before letting loose with lyrics about “the power of Rock n’ Roll” on the fast paced ‘I’m Alive’.
‘Talking to the Wall’ & ‘When All’s Been Said and Done’ are other fine examples of the band sticking to its marauding metal roots. Some of the highlights in this collection include the wonderful ‘Glass House’ and the Sabbath-like ‘Plastic in Paradise’ which has Lips playing one of my favourite guitar solos on the album. ‘Bottom Line’, ‘Food for the Vulture’ & the bonus track ‘No Time’ are all solid fast-paced speed metal inclusions on this release.
Recorded once again in Germany, where Anvil have found an almost spiritual recording home at Soundlodge Studios under the watchful eye of producer Martin Pfeiffer and mixed & engineered by Jorg Uken, ‘Legal at Last’ will be a solid inclusion in any Anvil fans collections and it will be interesting to see which songs get selected for the tour, with their set usually loaded with classics from their forty-year career. Is this as good as ‘Pounding the Pavement’? Not quite but pretty damn close and it will certainly sit highly in the list of their albums in general. Fast, heavy & very Anvil! Great stuff!
TRACKLIST
Legal At Last
Nabbed In Nebraska
Chemtrails
Gasoline
I’m Alive
Talking To The Wall
Glass House
Plastic In Paradise
Bottom Line
Food For The Vulture
Said And Done
No Time (Bonus Track)
