This is the second album for Monument in their usual NWOTHM (New Wave Of Traditional Heavy Metal-that is!) style and closer to Maiden than ever.
“Hair Of The Dog” is a solid, strong, catchy album that you’d listen from start to finish and then all over again. Every composition is good enough and each song has something to tell you, especially from the middle and onwards, since the songs that I think stood out “Olympus”, “A Bridge To Far”, “Heart Of Stone” and of course “Lionheart” are after no.5 in the tracklist. It’s an album that doesn’t want to claim any praise for being original, while it certainly won’t raise any questions about which bands Monument dig and what are their influences. NWOBHM can be proud of its legacy with releases like this one, since the band pays a hell of a tribute with its work.
Peter Ellis on vocals is great giving a memorable performance in each and every track, following Dickinson’s path, being passionate, over the top and sentimental. Actually, having seen him live recently you can’t but picture him roaming on stage screaming the lyrics of heavy metal anthems like the 6-minute “Lionheart” that was built to take no prisoners live. Can’t wait to see them again!
