Artist: Bleak House
Country: United Kingdom
Label: High Roller Records
Formats: 12″ EP / CD EP
Year: 2026
The story of Bleak House is actually much like that of so many bands from the NWOBHM movement: after a few name changes, the band eventually settled on Bleak House, having experimented with various styles throughout the 1970s. Hard Rock was always a staple of their musical repertoire, but when they finally settled on the name Bleak House in 1977, Heavy Metal was beginning to take an increasingly prominent place in the UK music scene, and this trend did not pass Bleak House by. Under this name, the band almost traditionally recorded two 7″ singles for Buzzard Records, a label that released only these two records and was presumably founded by the band or their entourage. Those two 7″ singles have since become true trophies for seasoned NWOBHM collectors; you can easily expect to part with several hundred bucks to get your hands on a good copy.
It is therefore not surprising that, over the years, a number of releases have appeared that have brought together the band’s handful of recordings. Over the past 15 or 20 years, various labels have thrown themselves into the obscurities of the NWOBHM; alongside more underground labels such as Buried By Time And Dust, however, it is primarily High Roller Records from Germany that seems to have set itself the goal of making everything ever released during those golden NWOBHM years available once again. Whilst, of course, not everything was necessarily worth listening to amongst the many hundreds of bands that rode the wave in the wake of the big names such as Saxon, Def Leppard, Tygers Of Pan Tang and, of course, Iron Maiden, High Roller Records was certainly right to bring Bleak House to the fore and/or keep them in the spotlight. After two compilation LPs (previously also released by the aforementioned Buried By Time And Dust), however, the well had run dry; Bleak House’s archives had by then been exhausted. That said, the current prices for the three compilation LPs prove that there is still plenty of demand for them…
Although I can’t say for certain, of course, it is plausible that the renewed interest from record labels and the public has prompted the band’s return. Bleak House is, of course, not exactly the first old Heavy Metal band to return after an absence of sometimes as long as three or four decades; however, most of those bands rely primarily on nostalgia rather than on quality. A festival like Keep It True, where the band performed in 2024, shows that there is more than enough scope and demand for this, and in essence there is nothing wrong with that. But that makes Bleak House’s comeback all the more remarkable, because with the release of ‘Tyrant’, the band demonstrates that they have lost surprisingly little of their original lustre.
‘Tyrant’, however, offers us only the title track as a new composition; the other two are re-recorded songs from their back catalogue: “Arise With The Prince” and “To The Gods”. Neither of these older tracks was ever officially released at the time and, until now, could only be heard in rough live versions on the aforementioned compilation LPs. This effectively makes this complete 3-track 12″ EP an absolute must-have for everyone – at least, if you’re a fan of early ’80s Heavy Metal. Apart from the historical significance of a “comeback record” like this, it is musically extremely impressive that a band which has been inactive for over forty years can return sounding so fresh and energetic. In that respect, the difference between the new track and the two older ones is virtually negligible; one could rightly say it’s as if time has stood still. It’s not just the dynamic songs and even the sound that evoke bygone days, but above all vocalist Graham Shaw still sounds exactly as he did in his early years.
The overall sound may be a little fuller and slightly brought up to more modern standards, thanks to sound engineer Patrick W. Engel, but it certainly doesn’t sound as cold and flat as Hell’s comeback a few years ago. It does the band a disservice to say it sounds nostalgic, because it’s more than that; it brings back the sound of the NWOBHM’s glory days in a seemingly well-thought-out new guise.
It’s also nice to see, and probably significant from a musical point of view, that the core of the band has remained intact. The trio of Bob Bonshor (guitars), Graham Killin (guitars) and Graham Shaw (vocals) were the architects of the sound featured on both cult singles, ‘Rainbow Warrior’ (1980) and ‘Lions In Winter’ (1982), but are now joined by the sons of both Grahams; so the magical sound and infectious spirit remain something of a family secret. In any case, it has resulted in one of the best comeback releases of recent years and also proves that not everything that has been dormant for years is necessarily inferior by definition.
