Q5 – New World Order – Album Review

OK, hands up who has heard of Q5 before? Yes, that is probably a pretty small showing; at least that’s my bet. Well, let’s do some catching up, since there isn’t a massive amount to catch up on.

So, Q5 were originally formed back in 1983 in Seattle, by smashing together two groups from the local scene, taking three members of TKO (guitarist Rick Pierce, bassist Evan Sheeley, and drummer Gary Thompson) and two members of C.O.R.E. (frontman Jonathan K and guitarist Floyd D. Rose – of Floyd Rose tremolo system fame). This line up released “Steel The Light” in 1984 and it was through this record that I discovered the band, and it has to be said it was the cool sci-fi spaceship cover art that really attracted my eye, rather than any knowledge of the band or music when I bought it. Fortunately the album was an absolute corker and kicked some serious butt. Hello Q5!

Following “Steel The Light”, their sophomore release in 1985, “When The Mirror Cracks”, was a little less heavy and seemed to me at least to have a little more keyboard than I would have perhaps liked. Unfortunately the band was already coming apart at the seems and split due the all too common “personal differences” soon after the album release. To be honest I assumed that was the last that anyone was likely to hear of Q5, but, surprise, the band popped up on the Sweden Rock Festival in 2014, with 3/5ths of the original line up, with Scott K. on vocals, Pierce on guitar and Sheeley bass, joined by new blood in the form of Dennis Turner on guitar and Jeffery McCormack on drums.

It seems the band had such a good time that they decided to keep the band going with an aim of putting out a new album, which is what I have in front of me right now. Released on Frontiers, “New World Order” turns in no less than fourteen tracks (one being listed as a bonus track on my copy) with a runtime topping just over an hour, and I have to honest there isn’t a duffer amongst them! It has been quite a long time since any album caught my ear quite as much as this did – so much so that I played it back-to-back straight through three times following the first listen!

So, Q5 really seem to have found their happy place with this record, and have adopted a solid power/heavy metal foundation here, which is just PERFECT in my book. Sure there is melody by the bucket load, but you will also find massive power-driving riffs and plenty of excellent playing from all contributors to keep you drawn in. I don’t really like drawing comparisons to other bands, but I’m going to break my own rules here just so you can get an idea of nature of these guys in 2016 – after the first couple of listens through I was starting to get infusions of Saxon, Judas Priest and recent Accept, but not in any derivative way.

Since I have only had my hands on this record for two days now I can’t claim to have any particular favorite track, but I think there would be something wrong with me if I didn’t mention “A Warrior’s Song/Mach Opus 206” which are listed as two separate tracks, but run into each other, and form an absolutely epic power metal trip. “Mach Opus 206” is in fact an massive riff-tastic monster of an instrumental track and I can’t help turning this one up to ‘11’ whenever this hits my ears. It’s honestly epically huge!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a great recording this is too. So often these days albums seem to come out flat and lifeless, but this record has a real energy and feel behind it driving the whole experience along. The drums and bass sound massive and the guitar sound is just about perfect – cutting, but still heavy. Jonathan Scott K’s vocal sit perfectly within each track and it may be his lyrical phrasing that makes me think NWOBHM. All in all despite there being 14 tracks here – I WANT MORE.

So, to close – it doesn’t matter a damn whether or not you remember Q5 from before (though if you do, all is good) – if you like your rock on the heavier side, GO AND BUY THIS RECORD. I can’t believe anyone could be disappointed. And just to make things clear, it has been quite a long time since I felt motivated enough to write a review, but I could not let this pass. This is a killer album and a straight 10/10.