Corvus - 'Immortals' Released 19th January 2024

Musically, it’s mostly on the soft and fluffy side of AOR but with real quality – the kind of stuff that back in the day would have been getting rave reviews from the likes of Derek Oliver of Kerrang, who would have had it all over his ‘Wimpwire’ column.

There are three good ballads on the album, of which the power-ballad ‘Just Like Heaven’ is my favourite. There are some harder rockers too, including the excellent ‘Battle Cry’ and the outer space-themed duo of ‘Hero’ and ‘Immortals’. We’ve already seen the space-age Arkham Artwork video for ‘Immortals’ and the highly-anticipated follow-up film for ‘Hero’ will drop on the same day the album is released.

The standout track might be ‘You Make Me Live Again’, which showcases the considerable vocal talents of singer / model / actor / radio DJ; Ciaran James. Ciaran has a rich and sonorous voice, which the record company have likened to Rick Astley. I have also seen one You Tube commenter mention Midge Ure but this means nothing to me. I’m not quite sure how helpful these comparisons are, to be honest, but Ciaran sounds great as he switches effortlessly from ballads to rockers and back again and his warm tones provide a welcome change from some of the high-pitched warblers of the genre who sound like they might have caught their bollocks in their spandex.

In an interesting diversion, the band slip outside the mainstream with the pop song; ‘Black Magic’. In parts, it sounds a little bit like a mash-up of ‘The Power of Love’, ‘Love Potion No. 9’ and ‘Lady Marmalade’ and is a lovely fun number.

Along with Ciaran, the band was co-founded by ex-Sepentine guitarist, John Clews, who also manages the band. Theirs is an exceptionally professional set-up in every way with top quality production and presentation and some fine additional players onboard. John’s fret-work adds good taste and a real sheen of polish throughout and in particular, he gets to show off his considerable guitar chops on the instrumental ‘Stardust’. Nick Jeavons is the keyboard player and he is responsible for the lovely intro to ‘Let Me In’ which is another stand-out song.

There are two bonus tracks available. ‘Chasing Miracles’ is the title track from their 2015 debut album but here it has been slowed right down and they’ve given it extra room to breathe. Both versions are excellent in their own way and the previous album is well worth checking out in its entirety. I got my copy at HRH AOR 2019 which might have been the band’s last full live appearance? They’ve teased the possibility of more live dates to support the album, so we can only hope.

The other bonus track is the Xmas single ‘Can You Hear the Sleigh Bells Ring’ which is well worth a listen each December but has yet to achieve Noddy Holder-sized annual royalties. If this album was a Xmas movie it would definitely be ‘Love Actually’ rather than ‘Die Hard’ but it is a tasty treat; sweeter than your Nana’s sherry and tastier than the figgy pudding – you’ll still be enjoying the leftovers all the way to Easter and beyond.