"100% Raw Heavy F**king Metal" is Honey For Christ's' slogan, they use it everywhere, CD sleeve, website, twice on their myspace..., which for me evokes memories of Manowar's  late 80's credo of "Death To False Metal" and all the sniggering that that entails....

Moving swiftly onto the music then, opening with "Satan and Swastika" its apparent that the band are drawing heavily from classic mid eighties thrash and power metal from the likes of Metallica and Onslaught. One major drawback of the EP as a whole is the production which unfortunately exposes the fact that its been self financed and self produced, especially in respect of the drums which at times are less audible than Jason Newsted's bass on "And Justice For All"!! That aside the only other main criticism is of Andy's voice which at times seems to be struggling.

What we have here is five tracks of mid-paced thrash/power metal that show some inventiveness and a willingness for experimentation within the confines of the genre. There are a lot of positive pointers to what might be to come if the band can deliver a full album of the same consistent quality, the guitar riffing throughout is excellent whether its mid paced chugging, slower melody lines or clean arpeggios everything Andy plays fits together well.

The Highlight for me is "Sorrow Descending" which has a bass led intro, some good group vocals and a better main vocal from Andy (his voice seeming to cope better with the slower tempo, he also does some very good growling on "The Darkest Pinnacle Of Light" its just the main body of the vocals, delivered at mid-tempo, that his voice seems to struggle with).

So reservations aside Honey For Christ are certainly a band I'd be intrigued to hear a whole album from and also one I'd make a point of catching live if they were ever in this neck of the woods, if they can secure a decent production budget and possibly write material that makes best use of Andy's voice then they could deliver something truly deserving of the accolade "100% Raw Heavy F**king Metal" they're not quite there yet though.

Let us know your views on 'The Darkest Pinnacle Of Light'

Track List

Satan And Swastika
The Final Transition
The Darkest Pinnacle Of Light
Sorrow Descending
Signs Of Bitterness

Line Up

Andy Clarke - Vocals/Guitar
Paul McRoberts - Bass
Chris Armstrong - Drums