Like so many Frontiers bands, Inglorious is built around a fantastic singer, in this case Nathan James, whose fantastic hard rock voice I personally discovered when he was elevating old Scorpions songs in Uli Jon Roth’s band about a decade ago. When they announced a hiatus after the departure of drummer Phil Beaver a year and a half ago, I assumed Inglorious was done for. James is the only remaining member of Inglorious’ previous line-up, but original bassist Colin Parkinson returned, which appears to be the exact adrenalin injection the band needed, as ‘V’ is a nice and energetic hard rock album.

What sets Inglorious apart from a majority of lead singer-focused Frontiers bands is the fact that the music accompanying James’ vocals is guitar-focused without exception. There are subtle keyboard layers in a handful of songs, but the hooks are always created by the vocal melodies and the guitar riffs. That is also why ‘V’, despite having a very polished production, feels like you are listening to an actual band rather than a studio project. Said guitars are handled by Parkinson and, perhaps surprisingly, former Cradle of Filth guitarist Richard Shaw, and they are surprisingly heavy for this type of catchy hard rock.

Despite these thick and crunchy guitars being everywhere on ‘V’, the main focus is as always on James’ fantastic vocals. He basically employs two vocal styles on the album. A majority of the songs features his rough-edged cleans, which show an enviable amount of control. He sounds powerful in literally every part of his fairly large vocal range, where many singers lose the edge or start sounding thinner in the upper registers. Then there are the ballad-esque parts in ‘Believe’ and the gorgeous closer ‘Power of Truth’, where his warm croons are reminiscent of Kayak’s Edward Reekers or Russell Allen at his softest.

Albums in this style tend to be fairly frontloaded, but good songs are everywhere on ‘V’. The album is kicked off in style, with ‘Eat You Alive’ reminding me of Jeff Scott Soto’s best solo work. ‘Devil Inside’ also sounds like a more modern take on what Soto would do. ‘Stand’ has a groove reminiscent of early nineties Guns ‘n’ roses with a top layer of melodic hard rock, while ‘In Your Eyes’ feels a bit more metallic, since it is carried by a downtuned gallop, though its catchy chorus is highly melodic. Henry Rogers’ drum part in ‘End of the Road’ transforms the groove of what otherwise would be a fairly typical metallic hardrocker.

‘V’ isn’t perfect – the verses of ‘Say What You Wanna Say’ are so weak that it drags the average down – but it might just be the most consistent album that the Brits have created thus far. They always had a bunch of excellent hardrockers on their albums, and James’ fantastic voice would be enough to carry me through the rest, but the songwriting on ‘V’ is great across the board. In fact, ‘Power of Truth’ might be the best thing Inglorious has ever written. If you think most modern melodic hard rock bands could use some heavier riffs, ‘V’ is the album for you.

Recommended tracks: ‘Power of Truth’, ‘Eat You Alive’, ‘In Your Eyes’