Norway’s Sahg have a lot of experience; You can tell that by the way they effortlessly weave their sonic tapestries in such a manner that, though there’s absolutely nothing new about what they’re doing, straight-up Ozzy worship like House of Worship still manages to sound fresh, relevant and, most important of all, incredibly enjoyable. These blokes know what they’re doing, that’s for sure.

So, across the course of Born Demon‘s forty-odd duration the trio take you on a trip right across metal’s more melodic moments and back again; Opening track Fall Into The Fire is the sort of track that bands in the eighties would have released as the first single on any album – heavy enough to keep the diehards happy, melodic enough to maybe snare a few unsuspecting noncoms as they go about their business – and the multi-vocalled chorus would have ensured immortality had it been released in 1985. The title track is even more classic in construction – Uriah Heep meets Sabbath is a perfectly accurate descriptor without actually hinting at the grandeur of the band’s superb sense of drama and dynamic.

Descendents of The Devil sees the band effortlessly forging their own niche – pop doom – adding high-minded melodic intent on a chorus that really has everything – captivating vocals, a funkily accessible drum performance, and a woozily attractive riff that sounds like Iron Maiden‘s Flash of The Blade had it’s original writers been whacked out on Mogadon rather than Ruddles County. Perfect, in other words…

In 2022 there is an optimistic retro-metal band lurking in literally every rehearsal room in the Western World; the trouble is, few of them harness their own members’ interests and influences anywhere near as effectively as Sahg in the effort to bring metal’s glory years alive again; Black Cross On The Moon is perfect in this respect not because it sounds like a cross between Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, but precisely because it doesn’t. Those two bands harnessed their own influences, usually from the seventies, and Sahg, by utilising names like Hawkwind and Heep, Sabbath and Thin Lizzy in their sound know just what it takes to make the perfect eighties-inspired heavy metal for new ears.

Born Demon might just be that rare heavy metal album that actually converts people to the course, such is it’s open-hearted embrace of anything and everything that made the genre great back in the day – slip it on at your next gathering and watch the unconverted flock to the flag!

Born Demon releases on October 21st.