As the 40th anniversary of Lightning To The Nations loomed, the album’s resonance and importance have long been established. A celebration was in order, thus in 2019 drummer Karl Wilcox devised an idea, pitched it to Adam Parsons (Siren Management), to re-record the whole album with this current line-up and bring the songs into the 21st Century. The result, Lightning To The Nations 2020, is quite simply, a scintillating shot of fresh metal vigour, with Diamond Head utilising all their skill, experience and revitalised energy to breathe so much new life into these freshly recorded takes, that it feels like experiencing the earth shaking all over again. Lightning To The Nations 2020 is set for release via Silver Lining Music on November 27th.
‘Am I Evil?’ is the second single to be released from the album; founding member Brian Tatler reminisces:
“Am I Evil? Is one of the songs that Metallica covered. I got a call from Lars Ulrich on 20th September 1986 to say that Metallica were playing that evening as part of the Master of Puppets Tour, at the Birmingham Odeon which was the best venue in the Midlands to see bands. Lars invited me along, so I caught the number 9 bus and picked up my backstage pass and was shown into Metallica’s dressing room. I was then introduced to James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Cliff Burton. Lars suggested that I get up and play ‘Am I Evil?’ on stage with them in the Encore, I of course agreed and after watching their amazing set for an hour I went backstage again where the guitar techs strapped James’s white Flying-V onto me. Then Lars ran to the centre-vocal mike and introduced me as “the guy who wrote this next song!”. The five of us played ‘Am I Evil?’ up to the fast section then Metallica went into ‘Damage Inc.’ and I scarpered off stage. It was a brilliant experience!”
Continues Tatler:
“It's also been a really great experience to re-visit and re-record ‘Am I Evil?’ and the Lightning To The Nations album for 2020. It’s also about time that Diamond Head’s biggest song finally has a video. Thank you to Andy Pilkington [Very Metal Art] for this mini epic”.
Watch/listen to the recently released ‘It’s Electric’ here
Recorded over several sessions between various locations from France to band members’ home studios, Lightning To The Nations 2020 central hub was Andersen’s Raw Sound Studios in London. It’s where Brian and Abbz did the guitars in February and March of this year, and then with the COVID-19 chaos striking, Andersen worked on the album between April and July, with Tatler’s watchful ear inspecting final mixes and tweaks in early August before sending off to mastering at Metropolis Studios. It is, however, fair to say that the crunch, scream and crackle of the production is yet another feather in Andersen’s producer hat.
Says Andersen:
“How I hear music when I produce is that I look for a certain density and weight, because that’s what I want. I want it to be like a brick house that literally lands on your face when you listen to it. And there are techniques and methods to do that, to me, that’s a lot of layers. It’s about emphasizing certain parts and making a dynamic shift. In 1980 you had very different recording capabilities.”
Lightning To The Nations 2020 will unite fans worldwide with a genuine genesis point for modern heavy metal music, and Diamond Head are delighted to have the chance to celebrate in such a powerful, potent and present way.
As if these carefully shaped recordings weren’t enough, there are four supreme cover versions rounding out the release. This edition sees Diamond Head spreading their wings and creating the heaviest of homages to Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Deep Purple and… Metallica. With Diamond Head having featured so heavily in Metallica’s early career, the cover of ‘No Remorse’ seems especially appropriate.
Lightning To The Nations 2020 will be released on November 27th 2020, via Silver Lining Music. Available as a CD Digipak, Double Vinyl Album housed in Gatefold, digital formats and special D2C bundles. For pre-orders, go to THIS LOCATION.
Lightning To The Nations 2020 Track Listing:
| 1. Lightning to the Nations |
| 2. The Prince |
| 3. Sucking My Love |
| 4. Am I Evil? |
| 5. Sweet and Innocent |
| 6. It’s Electric |
| 7. Helpless |
| 8. No Remorse |
| 9. Immigrant Song |
| 10. Sinner |
| 11. Rat Bat Blue |
Diamond Head are:
- Brian Tatler – Lead, Rhythm Guitars
- Rasmus Bom Andersen – Vocals, Orchestration, Additional Guitars
- Karl Wilcox – drums
- Andrew “Abbz" Abberley – Rhythm, Lead Guitars
- Dean Ashton – Bass, Organ
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