HAUNT - Golden Arm (2023) Cassette

Fresno's HAUNT have spent the better part of a decade proving that the NWOBHM never actually died, it just moved to California and started writing better hooks. Trevor William Church runs this project like a one-man British Steel fantasy, and Golden Arm is another flawless entry in a catalogue that sounds like it was excavated from a 1981 record shop and somehow arrived in perfect condition.

This is heavy metal the way it was always supposed to sound, melodic leads, soaring vocals, riffs that go somewhere. No irony, no apology. If you've been sleeping on Haunt, Golden Arm is the one that converts people. It earns its place in any collection sitting alongside Cirith Ungol and Visigoth, and on cassette it sounds exactly as warm and analogue as it deserves to.

Format: cassette, full length. USA pressing.

Fans of: Visigoth, Cirith Ungol, Night Demon