Album review: Hawkwind – Chronicle of the Black Sword

1985’s anxiety-inducing, hair-tearing scramble to record a studio album in record time turned out to be Hawkwind’s best album of the decade. Strong, direct songs (“Song Of The Swords”, “Needle Gun”) were married to muscular ambience (“Shade Gate”, “The Pulsing Cavern”, long before the term was invented) to create Chronicle of the Black Sword, their first true studio masterpiece which reinvigorated their career for the next ten years.

After two scrappy and unfocused live/semi-live/studio cast-offs albums (Stonehenge and Zones), the sudden collapse of their “Earth Ritual” concept (complete with the reintroduction of Robert Calvert) due to the death of Barney Bubbles and band bickering (leading to the sacking, for the second time, of Nik Turner), Chronicle of the Black Sword was born in a rabbit-out-of-the-hat moment when someone suggested adapting Michael Moorcock’s Elric novels into a singular science fantasy concept piece.

The addition of Alan Davey (bass, vocals, synths, songwriter) brought a new energy to Hawkwind‘s more  seasoned players: Harvey Bainbridge moved to keyboards full time, Huw Lloyd-Langton continued his astounding lead guitar accompaniment, Dave Brock seemed to bubble with ideas and new drummer Danny Thompson, Jr. (the son of legendary acoustic bass player, er, Danny Thompson) brought youthful vitality and a sense of humour back into the band.

All that contributed – alongside serious input from Moorcock  (lyrics to “Sleep Of A Thousand Tears”, concept) – to a group shimmering with purpose, well able to get their ideas down on tape as quickly as was required. Live Chronicles may have had the time to include several Moorcock poems and two inexplicably unrecorded Lloyd-Langton song highlights, but Chronicle of the Black Sword still stands proud.

As the new boys Davey and Thompson obviously wanted to make their mark and – whether due to short mixing time, bald production or conceptual intent – Chronicle of the Black Sword features the hardest bass sounds, the chunkiest rhythm patterns and the most upfront bass playing of any Hawkwind album since 1975’s Warrior On The Edge Of Time (which proved to be Lemmy’s swansong). Davey is all over “The Sea King” and “The Pulsing Cavern” but it’s the hard rock instrumental b-side “Arioch” (included on the reissue) that confirms his status as the most sympathetic Hawkwind bass player since their glory days.

Delightfully, the other bonus tracks on Chronicle of the Black Sword (from the otherwise aborted “Earth Ritual” sessions) feature Lemmy on bass and vocals on the blatant “Night Of The Hawks”. Another of Lloyd-Langton’s great songs relegated to a b-side gets wider exposure here; “Dragons and Fables” ties in well with the Elric concept and arrived unchanged in the new live set. The only disappointment is the Brock/Calvert dirge “Green Finned Demon” which probably doesn’t even merit a b-side… but which the Atomhenge team have again taken extraordinary trouble to remaster properly.

Still, that’s carping. Chronicle of the Black Sword is an amazing feat, particularly in view of its hasty recording. The overwhelming memory is of songs, bass guitar, mad percussion and a real story being told. Anyone remotely interested in Hawkwind should possess this album.