A fully cranked up debut album comes via the Ebony Records roster; Chateaux being a high-pitched, exploding metallic rant that belongs in the same rusty bracket as say Savage, Grim Reaper - mainly due to its smouldering guitar sound courtesy of Tim Broughton who just owns this opus with his shredding and general riffs of doom. There's a sense of dark brooding throughout this mighty slab; hinting at that doom-laden and blackened NWoBHM enchantment and it's there from the off with the nodding title track which begins with a fiery wail of despair but you can pluck your way through this dimly lit cavern and come up with gem after gem to light your way. Personal faves are the grinding, clanking, fizzing mustiness of 'Son of Seattle' and the weird fuzzy bop of 'Spirit of Chateaux'; but every ingredient for this mini-masterpiece is right whether in the form of the powerhouse vocals of Steve Grimmett who of course made his name more so with fellow barbarians Grim Reaper; but all the while the drums of Andre Baylis keep banging skulls and Alex Houston's bass plods with menace; then 'Chained...' is always going to be a firm yet underrated favourite amongst true metal-heads.
9/10
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