Review AIRFORCE “Acts of Madness”

Airforce from the UK have a long history that goes back to the year 1987. It was the year that Airforce took off, but the journey ended in 2001. After regrouping in 2008, Airforce released their debut album “Judgement Day” in 2016 and have been around ever since. With founding members Tony Hatton, Doug Sampson and Chop Pitman, the band represents the spirit of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and transports the sound into the here and now.

“Act of Madness” is the title of Airforce’s third album, which features ten new songs and one cover version. The band started working on their latest release back in 2020, but the circumstances of a pandemic slowed down the process. However, the guys had enough willpower to finish “Act of Madness”.

Let’s start at the end of the tracklist because it tells a lot about the sound of Airforce. The band recorded Iron Maiden’s “Strange World” and it is no coincidence that they chose an Iron Maiden song. Airforce is very much inspired by NWoBHM in general and Iron Maiden in particular. Songs like “The Fury” clearly show the influence of the British metal flagship and I must say that there are moments when singer Flávio Lino reminds of Bruce Dickinson, especially when he hits the high-pitched screams.

Airforce certainly have some good metal songs that they put on the new album. The galloping “Sniper” is one of them and the faster “Westworld” shows some roots of heavy metal too.

What isn’t exactly what you would expect these days is the sound. “Act Of Madness” is certainly not overproduced and to put it nicely, the album sounds rather oldschool. This may be intentional, but it also takes away some of the power and energy.

To conclude: “Act of Madness” is a traditional heavy metal album with songs that have their roots in NWoBHM, which also means that we are dealing with honest and authentic heavy metal without any frills.