Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Previously unreleased…two words that capture the imagination of any fan of the arts, it entertains the notion that there is something more to the universe than what we may have been permitted to observe, to witness, like being offered a glimpse of a collapsing star in the heavens, there is a moment of sheer excitement of what lays undiscovered and what it may reveal to us, what it may say about our soul, about our expectations.

A band that many may have missed, could be oblivious to, especially on the European side of the Atlantic, the hard rock Sea Hags was a group that should have become a household name, admired by those who see the genre as a smorgasbord of talented performers pushing the narrative and underlined by a sound that was exuberant in its truth, punishing in its damnation.

The previously unreleased Dead & Gone follows what was deemed, rightly, as a successful demonstration of their potential, and with Metallica’s Kirk Hammett at the helm for the initial foray into the world, all must have seemed to be straightforward, knuckle down, continue being true to the vision, and above all never let a distraction pull you from your path.

Previously unreleased…and with it the knowledge of what was missed, what fans were denied, and with it a sense of emptiness filled, a hole uncovered and refilled properly, entrenched in the ideals of the time, Dead & Gone is full of rage, a tempest, storm in which the acts of gods spiral and in which sorcerers conjure; and by doing so that original sound which was a symbol of Punk undertones and hard rock overtures working in union and with great effect. 

The tracks are fierce, they pound and grind as one would hope, and as Happy Hours With You, Chicken Boys, Doghouse, Back To The Grind, King Bee Blues and the hungry, ravenous sound that refuses to be bottled up and ignored, Cock Eyed Crow, leave no doubt of their intention, of what, might of, should have been.

The fact that what is presents is captured live speaks volumes of the fierceness of the group, they had belief, they had a ferocious edge that could be described as anger in strength, but they also had the proto sound of sleaze rock that would be a cornerstone of the emerging new sound that was to follow in the 90s; that the cylinders of the yet untapped universe were visible, audible, and within reach.

Previously unreleased…and now available to relish, the intensity of the unknown dramatically exposed.

Ian D. Hall