Slasher Pray For The Dead (2011)

2022 release. Radiance is the sixth studio album for the Dead Daisies who have gone from strength to strength over the last 10 years. Once again produced by Ben Grosse, the album features 10 standout songs that evoke an energy and shine not known since the golden age of hard rock in the 0s and early 80s. Carried by the muscular drumming of Brian Tichy, fueled by the riffage of David Lowy, refined by the power and glory of Doug Aldrich and brought home by the low end thump and high end wails of Glenn Hughes, it once again shows The Dead Daisies on true form. Put the record on and get lost in time - Radiance is truly here.

The sense of liberation that rejuvenated …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead on The Century of Self, the band’s first album on their own Richter Scale imprint, continues on The Tao of The Dead. Indeed, the way Conrad Keely and company flex their brains and muscles here, without any confines except the ones they make for themselves, makes The Century of Self feel like a dress rehearsal. It's easy to see why any other label might not want to take a risk on an album like this: it’s divided into two parts, it’s written in two specific tunings, and the album artwork is the first installment of Keely's steampunk graphic novel. Yet these are exactly the kind of things - along with the music, of course - that make the Trail of Dead special: they revel in grand sounds and grand concepts…