I don't know what they hell they put in the water in South Wales these days but it sure helps us produce bonafide heavy metal talent, especially in recent years we have been producing quality bands this side of the Severn Bridge at a veritable rate of knots.  Okay, so we may have also produced a variety of successful pop/rock acts such as Kids In Glass Houses, Attack Attack and The Blackout who have effectively managed to sneak into the metal press masquerading as the real deal, but I'm not interested in those charlatans. I'm talking about true balls to the wall metal from the likes of Fell On Black Days, Revoker and Storm The Walls, and if you have enjoyed that array of underground Welsh talent then I suggest you also check out the debut EP from Bridgend based metallers Scream Allegiance.

Rising from the ashes of the now defunct Children Of The Gravy like a horn-throwing Phoenix, the band had been playing the live circuit with a set of metal covers coupled with their own original material, but vocalist Mark Cullimore and guitarist Cooky began to feel disillusioned at the audience's reaction when they would throw a curveball into the set and add an unlikely cover from the likes of Vio-lence etc. So it was at that point they decided to disband Children of... to concentrate on writing more of their own great heavy material and in turn bring heavy metal back to the masses and they certainly haven't disappointed with this five track download EP.

Returning with a solid, watertight rhythm section in drummer Tony Maz and bassist Gary Collins, this project is self-financed and produced/mixed by Bullet For My Valentine's six stringer Michael 'Padge' Padget.

The band are not afraid to let their influences shine through as I can spot traces of vintage Anthrax and Machine Head's Rob Flynn and Phil Demmel's previous band, Bay Area legends Vio-lence shining through, whilst in vocalist Mark Cullimore they possess one of the finest metal vocalists to grace the local metal scene as he produces such a wide vocal range from the Halford thrill on 'Easy Prey' to the death metal vocals of 'Your Prayers Will Not Be Answered' all sang with a degree of ease and confidence.

Guitarist Dean 'Cooky' Cook, quite literally wearing his influences on his sleeve (having legendary Pantera guitarist Dimebag inked on his skin), his idol's influence can be heard right across the EP, luckily he manages to avoid treading into the dreaded pastiche territory as he adds his own blues influence into the mix clearly displayed on the title track 'Scream Allegiance'. 'Face Your Enemy' takes the listener back to good ole thrash territory, taking no prisoners as they take you on a musical assault, not letting go until they pummel you into submission. Ending the EP with a calmer less thrash orientated number literally letting the guitar do the talking, dare I say I could almost here a slight Bruce Dickinson vocal thrown in for good measure.

I don't know whether it's because the band have spent time over the years honing their craft in various bands, or it's just their sheer gung-ho determination to succeed but the musicianship throughout this EP is simply breathtaking. If you love your metal fast and heavy, or even if you just love music, I urge you to check out the band's website and download these songs. Believe me it won't take long before like me you will be fighting the urge to raise your fist in the air and Scream Allegiance to the Metaaaal!

http://www.screamallegiance.com/