Review | Tokyo Blade ‘Thousand Men Strong’

Thousand Men Strong

There seems to be a bit of a renaissance of 80’s metal bands reforming and putting out powerful new music and Tokyo Blade is no exception.

It’s not very often a band that has parted ways and not seen each other for years gets another chance to regroup and record an epic record, but with Tokyo Blade that is exactly the case. After a chance meeting at the famous Ruskin Arms in London (Iron Maiden’s stomping grounds in the early days) just before a Tokyo Blade gig with Tokyo Blade co-founder and guitarist Andy Boulton and a new Tokyo Blade line-up, former Tokyo Blade bassist Andy Wrighton surprised Mr. Boulton by showing up to say hello. A stunned Andy Boulton (after all he hadn’t seen him in twenty five years) invited Andy for a few beers to catch up, and before they knew it, four of the original members from the classic 80’s Tokyo Blade line-up had reformed and were planning to record a new record. After recruiting Domain vocalist Nikolaj Ruhnow, Tokyo Blade recorded ‘Thousand Men Strong.’

Lead guitarist Andy Boulton comments:

“We’re viewing ‘Thousand Men Strong’ as our third album, or rather the album that should have been, so to speak. It’s the natural follow-up to 1984’s ‘Night Of The Blade’ as all the songs hark back to the glory days of NWOBHM.”

Andy may consider this Tokyo Blade’s follow up to ‘Night Of The Blade‘ but I see ‘Thousand Men Strong‘ as a new chapter for Tokyo Blade, a kind of rebirth of the band and the start of something very new and very powerful.

It would have been a shame if ‘Thousand Men Strong‘ would have never been made but the Metal Gods were looking after Tokyo Blade for this one and little by little all the pieces fell into place, making it all possible. This album reflects a more mature and focused Tokyo Blade with a purpose but also nothing to prove to anyone but themselves. These ten (count em) ten hard hitting, kick ass songs come straight from the gut of these seasoned veterans of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene from the 80’s.  Thousand Men Strong contains no fillers, no preservatives and no ballads, just pure straight forward no bullshit metal.

Thousand Men Strong is reminiscent of traditional heavy metal with a razor sharp, modern day energy that never lets up. From the albums opener ‘Black Abyss‘ to the final track, the bands remake of their song ‘Night Of The Blade‘ this record rocks.  Guitarist Andy Boulton and John Wiggins blistering, crunchy two guitar attack shines throughout Thousand Men Strong with monster riffs, dueling solo’s and tastey leads from each of these excellent players. Bassist Andy Wrighton and drummer Steve Pierce are rock solid providing their own version of the wall of sound and thunder. There is something to be said about the unexplainable magic and chemistry that a certain group of musicians conjure up when they come together to make music and Tokyo Blade is living proof of this phenomenon and it shows in Thousand Men Strong.

Now lets talk about Tokyo Blade’s vocalist and newest member Nicolaj Ruhnow, this guy can sing, and talk about range, he’s got it. Nicolaj was not only brought in to be Tokyo Blades vocalist and frontman but to write all the lyrics and melodies for Thousand Men Strong as well, and he nailed it! Nicolaj can get down and dirty and then hit stratospheric highs that would make even the ‘Metal God’ himself proud. His lyrics cover topics from a German version of ‘Jack The Ripper’ on the song ‘Lunch Box‘ to the power of the sun on ‘Killer Rays.’

Produced by Grammy-nominated producer Chris Tsangarides (Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy), Thousand Men Strong has a live and energetic quality about it that comes from an experienced producer that knows what he wants going in. This is what Chris had to say about producing the record:

“Working with a band like Blade is the real deal only this time I think they’ve got it right. Great songs, great performances and finally a great vocalist joining forces shows what a producer and a band that’s on the same page can do!”

With the release of Thousand Men Strong world wide March 18th, 2001 Tokyo Blade has proven one thing, like the lyrics in their song ‘Forged In Hell Fire‘ says “The BLADE is back”!

Rating : 4 out of 5 Stars
Favorite Song: ‘Heading Down The Road‘

Thousand Men Strong Track Listing:

01. Black Abyss
02. Thousand Men Strong
03. Lunch-Case
04. Forged In Hell’s Fire
05. No Conclusion
06. The Ambush
07. Killing Rays
08. Heading Down The Road
09. Condemned To Fire
10. Night Of The Blade

Tokyo Blade are:

Andy Boulton – Guitar
Andy Wrighton – Bass
John Wiggins – Guitar
Steve Pierce – Drums
Nicolaj Ruhnow – Vocals

One Response to “Review | Tokyo Blade ‘Thousand Men Strong’”

1. T. says:

   March 20, 2011 at 5:12 pm

   With the release of Thousand Men Strong world wide March 18th, 2001 Tokyo Blade has proven one thing, like the lyrics in their song ‘Forged In Hell Fire‘ says “The BLADE is back”!

   Holy shit! Where have I been?!