Search - Shiva :: Continuance

NWOBHM....or Canadian Progressive Rock?

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 11/18/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Continuance, Shiva's follow-up to their 1982 debut album is far from your ordinary New Wave of British Heavy Metal album. For one thing, it was released in 2004 - a full two decades after the NWOBHM scene redefined the metal genre. For another, Continuance doesn't sound much like the typical NWOBHM album at all.



The band actually recorded most of the material on Continuance back in 1983, but for whatever reason it remained unreleased until recently. The band, working with reissue label Majestic, cleaned up those recordings, digitally remastering them so they sound as good as anything released today.



Like I mentioned earlier, Continuance is not your typical NWOBHM album. In a scene where the dominant players were Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Motorhead, Shiva stands out with a sound that owes more to a pair of rock bands "across the pond" - Triumph and Rush. Shiva's sound was fast and melodic, yet had a fair share of progressive rock elements. Think "Never Surrender" meets "Signals". There is still some of the traditional NWOBHM style to their sound, but that's probably not the first thing you'd think of when you first hear Continuance.



I give this album an enthusiastic 4 stars. The sound quality is good enough that you'd never guess how old the songs are (which also says something about the songs themselves). This is a winner, whether you're a die-hard NWOBHM fan, or simply a fan of high quality hard rock. Rush fans will most likely be pleasantly surprised by this album as well."