Deep Switch Nine Inches Of God

Shadow Kingdom Records 2010

Disk 1:
1. Pigfeeder
2. Time Machine
3. Nine Inches Of God
4. The Poison Lake
5. The Dark Angel
6. Lovers Of The Dream
7. Poor Bastard
8. Spinning The Wheel
R.T. 40:52
Disk 2:
1. Pigfeeder (demo)
2. Time Machine (demo)
3. Lovers Of The Dream (demo)
4. The Poison Lake (demo)
5. Spinning The Wheel (demo)
6. Silver Bullet (prev. unreleased)
7. Dont Wanna Work (prev. unreleased)
8. The dance Feeder (prev. unreleased)
9. The Festive Zone (prev. unreleased)
R.T. 39:11
Today there is no chance to find a metal fan who doesnt know
who Iron Maiden, Saxon, Venom or Def Leppard are, many chances
are for the same fan to know who Blitzkrieg, Diamond Head, Samson
or Tygers Of Pan Tang are, but names like Goldsmith, Satans
Empire, Bitches Sin and Tysondog might be totally unknown. All
these bands might not have the same effect and influence on
current metal bands but all of them are part of the most influential
metal movement of the 80s, New Wave Of British Heavy Metal or
NWOBHM. This movement that lasted roughly between 1979 and
1985 was the result (but also the cause) for thousands of bands to
be founded in every corner of the British Islands, some of them
never got beyond a 7 or 12 but few lucky ones got the chance to
release an album, many of them as private releases and far less
with a record company. One of the lucky ones was Deep Switch. The
band was formed in 1984 and after two demos in 1986 they
released by themselves an album called Nine Inches Of God. The
few original copies and the quick demise of the band made that LP
an important collectors item and also gave the band something of a
cult status.
The album starts with Pigfeeder, a classic song of the time
with sarcastic lyrics that show the bands more humorous side, a
side also shown in the pictures of the band with womans clothes
and underwear. Time Machine that follows is a softer song with

fantasy lyrics inspired by the Battle of Hastings, beside some

progressive undertones the song doesnt go far from the typical
sound of the era but to be honest I was really surprised by the
vocalist, who at times sounds very close to Roger Daltreys more
melodic moments with The Who. Next comes the title track, I loved
the song because of its nature and the best description I can give to
it is that this is the musical equivalent of nunploitation films. Both
The Poison Lake and The Dark Angel are an attempt from the
band to a more serious and darker songwriting and they manage
well in creating two solid and classic sounding metal songs,
especially with The Dark Angel they manage to combine a more
aggressive Venom-like sound with melodic parts that come from The
Whos classic concept albums. Lovers Of The Dream is a ballad,
Im not big fan of power ballads but I think that at least it has the
basic elements of that type of songs. The most controversial and
political incorrect song is Poor Bastard, I dont know if everybody
will get their attempt to create ironic lyrics in the vein of Pink Floyd,
but the aggressive riffs and the lyrics work for me. The album ends
with Spinning The Wheel a fast, aggressive, epic song with a nice
acoustic, but very long for me, intro.
The second disk contains demo recordings from some of the
songs found on the first disk with most differences to be found in
the lyrics with the music to be almost identical. From the four
unreleased songs Silver Bullet could have a place on the original
LP, good riffs and actually one of their best crafted songs. Dont
Wanna Work, funny lyrics and I think it was written with very loving
feelings towards Margaret Thatcher (and I could add some names
from today), on the musical side I could vow that it is a heavy and
faster version of Van Halens Jump. Next we find The Dance
Feeder a groovier, alternate version of Pigfeeder that could work
nice when played live. The last song is The Festive Zone again a
humorous song about the Christmas season and I can say that many
metalheads have the same opinion about this time of the year as
the band.
I must be honest in my final opinion about this album; the
album is not so different from the most released in the
genre/movement of NWOBHM. It has some great riffs, good ideas,
some of the funniest lyrics and a vocalist that could have been in
many more famous bands, but often they fall in the trap of
repetitiveness and easy solutions. However I acknowledge that one
of the bands best traits (and often missing from today) is their
honest and do it for fun attitude. You will not buy something
exceptional if you take it but youll not be disappointed either.