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VILLAIN
Don’t Be A Hero

Self-released (2025)
Rating: 6.5/10

With their debut full-length album these Canadian rockers sure know how to start a leather waistcoat party! Tidy heavy metal is the name of the game here with ten brisk and beefy choice cuts that have that classic steely gallop which harkens back to the days of vintage Iron Maiden laced with US power metal, as evidenced on the boisterous opening title track.

Sadly, ‘Don’t Be A Hero’ is not the heaviest metal song you’ll hear. Vocalist and axeman Caleb Beal – who also features for Midnight Malice and Breaker – has a strong traditional metal voice, but at times even his charismatic croons can’t rescue this album from being just another heavy metal platter.

‘Womaneater’ is a gem though, cruising smoothly through the night like a caped crusader and a soundtrack of steady drums thanks to Jake Gracie. However, it is a huge shame that the production doesn’t allow anything here to burst from the speakers.

‘The Ride’ sounds like early Ratt, glam-tinged but weighty and snarling from within its folds, while ‘Sweet Danger’ is another galloping affair where the Toronto-based band comes into their own more with a piece of pure metal, albeit archaic and typically throwback. Expect plenty of predictable numbers, but you can still soak up the rays cast from the steel even if it’s not quite as glaring as you hoped.

There’s a decent amount of sizzle in Caleb Beal’s axework, with ‘Venus Mound’ being a good example, but you’ll find a crispness all round before the combo rounds off proceedings with ‘Razing Hell (Tokyo)’, a streetwise but formulaic rocker that does exactly what it says on the tin.

Villain offer no real surprises here, but if you’re looking for another solid heavy metal platter to ease the craving then why not snap this one up. Not quite villainous or heroic, this debut may slip under the radar of many.

Neil Arnold

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