Danish quartet Timechild wrench a mighty sound from their instruments on And Yet It Moves. Like fellow Scands Hex A.D., they reach back to the seventies for their primary inspiration – over the course of the opening three tracks, names like UFO, Zeppelin, Uriah Heep and Rainbow will all flash across your mind as you register little sparks of what were clearly inspirations for the album. But, whilst their Norwegian counterparts opt for a proggier direction overall, Timechild prefer to hit the listener at a more visceral level – and my word they do that very well indeed.

Superbly produced by compatriot Soren Andersen – a man who knows a thing or two about getting a great heavy rock guitar sound – the band’s signature sound is a crunching yet tuneful guitar maelstrom in tandem with a strong vocal from Anders Folden Brink; however his voice is often bolstered by spine tingling harmonies from lead guitarist Birk and bassist Daniel Bach, who as a trio add a hazy, West Coast edge to tracks like Haze of The Dawn that you just won’t hear elsewhere from anyone else plying this kind of music in 2021.

Despite being rooted in the world of Schenker, Blackmore and Page, the band never succumb to overindulgence, preferring to let the songs – none of which get anywhere near six minutes in length – do the heavy lifting rather than simply drowning themselves in instrumental pyro. Songs, despite their undeniable ‘classic’ tone, never outstay their welcome. Where I Now Belong, in particular, benefits from this approach, and manages to get done in four minutes what would take many bands twice as long – and this adds a refreshing punch and urgency to proceedings that is as welcome as it surprising.

Standout cut Shrapnel is perhaps where everything comes together best; wondrous multi-part harmonies begin and end a track that Alice In Chains would have been proud to put their name to in their pomp; mid sing the guitars crash in and a crystaline lead solo takes the song to the stratosphere before those voices come back to take the song to somnolent rest. It’s perfectly executed stuff, and a fine example of just how good a band Timechild is.

Last Frontier is a superb slice of sleazy, serpentine heavy rock, powered by some fine drum work from Martin Haumann, whilst the Baroque closer The Bite of Frost adds the guitar grandeur of Wishbone Ash to the mix just whn you thought things couldn’t get any better…

It’s possibly a little early to be predicting big things for Timechild, but the sheer class exhibited on every track here suggests a very bright future indeed – get in now and say you were there from the start!

And Yet It Moves Releases on November 12th.