Cloven Hoof – The Opening Ritual (Bone LP)

A lot of people say that Cloven Hoof’s first vinyl offering, the fantastic »Opening Ritual«, was the band’s most NWOBHM record in their entire career. Musically speaking… In later years Euro Metal, Epic Metal and US Metal influences started to creep in… “Yes, I would agree with that, “ agrees Lee Payne. “It is a real record of the time and captures the vitality and energy we felt as a band. Cloven Hoof played fast because we were nervous in the studio when that red light came on. I wrote more riffs in one song than most bands had on an album because the musicians like Steve and Kevin wanted music to be interesting and challenging. Above all, it had to be fast and epic sounding because the bands we were influenced by were like that too. Nowadays they say we are pioneers of power metal and black metal, with our occult themed works but I still think of us as NWOBHM because that is at the core of our sound and where we were from initially.”

Track List

Side A:

1. Gates Of Gehenna
2. Stormrider
3. Back In The USA
4. Starship Sentinel

Side B:

1. That’s The Way It Goes
2. Return Of The Passover
3. Road Of Eagles
4. A Piece Of The Action