Kev Rowland
Onward was created in 2000 in Montana/USA by guitarist Toby Knapp and singer Michael Grant (later of Crescent Shield), with the line-up being completed by bassist Randu laFrance and drummer Jon Pereau. They must have made an impact quiet quickly as they were soon signed to Century Media who released this their debut album in 2001. They followed it up with a second just a year later but didn’t last much past that and soon imploded. Now in 2014, German label Pure Steel Records has decided to release both of these as limited edition vinyl copies and I am currently listening to the debut. Musically this is a mix of power metal and NWOBHM, and if I had been given this to listen to and asked to guess when it was released I would have pushed for some time in the early Eighties, certainly not past the millennium.
There is a naivety that pervades the album, which is probably gives it the earlier feel, as although they have been compared in some quarters with Jag Panzer they just don’t have the same drive and power that one would expect from that band. Possibly this is why they didn’t succeed as much as one might think, as even being signed to a metal heavyweight such as Century Media there is not enough here to really lift it, which is a shame as Toby is a fine guitarist and with some pushes in the right direction they might have become a force to be reckoned with. As it is, what we have is a an album that is good, but not great.