Simon RushworthInglorious — V (Frontiers)
It’s easy to dismiss Inglorious as a rather vacuous, vanity-led vehicle for flamboyant, ever-present frontman Nathan James.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
To do so is to diminish the quality and consistency of a project that’s seen a succession of top-class musicians contribute to the kaleidoscopic bigger picture.
Sure, there’s never been a so-called ‘settled line-up’ driving the classic rock throwbacks.
Inglorious has always operated with a famously fluid revolving door policy.
But is that really a bad thing?
Look back on the band’s previous four albums, multiple headline tours and standout festival appearances and, in retrospect, the constant flux has kept things incredibly fresh.
There’s been no time for feuds to fester.
Every record has represented a brave new dawn.
And James has maintained a happy knack for surrounding himself with inspired new recruits relishing the opportunity to imprint their own identity on the Inglorious legacy.
V, to an extent, maintains that trend: Richard Shaw (guitars, Cradle Of Filth) and Henry Rodgers (drums, Mostly Autumn) are the intriguing additions to this fifth iteration of a fabulously diverse quartet.
But this time things are a little different.
The follow-up to 2021’s We Will Ride goes back to the future thanks to the return of rhythm king, songwriter and producer Colin Parkinson.
James’ trusted wingman during the early years clearly felt he had unfinished business.
And V is the strident sound of a proven partnership reborn.
Inglorious go punk?
Parkinson described new single Say What You Wanna Say as ‘a statement of attitude with a punk meets Mötley Crüe feel’.
Calm down Colin!
It’s the kind of wild claim that will have die-hard Inglorious fans the world over running for cover.
And if V’s multi-instrumentalist, co-songwriter and producer should probably curb his enthusiasm — at the risk of alienating the band’s long-time devotees — then he has a point.
Of the five (the clue’s in the name) Inglorious albums to drop to date this is, by some considerable distance, the heaviest.
With James at the helm there’s never any danger of the band losing its trademark melodic rock sound altogether.
But boy is this a shift.
It seems Parkinson’s returned with some kind of sonic axe to grind and, given Shaw’s extreme metal pedigree, an opportunity to turn things way past 10 has been grasped with both hands.
If you grew into Inglorious listening to the band’s self-titled debut and 2017’s bluesy follow-up then V can best be described as a grower.
But if you’ve been urging James to release the shackles, shed any preconceptions and kiss goodbye to his comfort zone then you’re in luck.
V is fast, furious and full of visceral energy. It’s as if James, Parkinson and long-time collaborator Tony Draper (on mixing and engineering duties) determined to cross Deep Purple with Demon and be damned.
It’s not classic Inglorious but what is?
This is a band that’s built its reputation on evolution and V could well be for victory.
