Aragorn (2) – Noonday - The Aragorn Anthology

If you're a fan of the celebrated New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement, you have to love what the Castle label has done to bring the most obscure NWOBHM bands' material back to life. Noonday - the Aragorn Anthology is a perfect example. Here is a band that never even released a proper album, but instead is best known for their single "Black Ice".

Aragorn was without a doubt a heavy metal band. Their hard charging style is similar to Diamond Head and Saxon, but they had the almost punk rock-like intensity of Motorhead and Atomkraft. Aragorn's sound is very raw and unpolished. You get the feeling their youth and intensity had more to do with their appeal than any abundance of musical ability, which again reminds me of a lot of that era's punk rock bands. Songs like "Black Ice", "Hellriser" and "The Night is Burning" are great examples of Aragorn's raw energy.

The good folks at Castle have painstakingly compiled the available Aragorn recordings, cleaned up the sound considerably, and provided NWOBHM fans another must-have anthology. You get all of the band's studio material, demos and singles, and even a cover of Golden Earrings "Radar Love", all digitally remastered, plus extensive liner notes. Like all of the Castle NWOBHM anthologies, it is well worth checking out, whether you're a die-hard fan of that scene or you're just interested in checking out an overlooked piece of metal's history.