Ladies and gentlemen let us raise a glass tonight to all those road warriors, Transit van dogs and rockers who play over 300 gigs a year, release a record or two but never quite make it through to the promised land of private jets, lingerie model girl/boyfriends, performing to 250,000 baying Brazilians and parties featuring nude midgets toting trays of illegal substances so exclusive that we, poor mortals, have never even heard their names. Tonight I’ve picked Mournblade Time’s Running Out a mini-LP from 1985 that I picked up in July 1988. It was the 32nd LP I ever bought, sandwiched in between Dark Side of The Moon and Foxtrot, which is one of the things that makes it interesting to me.
I started collecting records because I got so into Queen that I wanted to own them all, from there I branched out into other bands, but obviously just the ones I’d heard of before, so all mainstream, all major label artists. I had no real understanding that there was an underground, or indie-label scene, just presuming that all the good stuff got snapped up and released ‘properly’. Back in 1986, my uncle Alistair knowing I liked Floyd a lot, gave me a taped copy of an LP he was playing a lot which was Time’s Running Out. His copy was all signed and dedicated to him, because he’d met them and hung out with them when they’d played Taunton, or Weston-Super-Mare*, which I thought was just amazing because to my mind bands played Wembley Arena and travelled everywhere by helicopter with a 16 person entourage. I can still remember the tape cover because he used a gothic script Letraset which was a nice touch.
I was a fantasy geek and had consumed all of Michael Moorcock’s output by this point** so I was well aware of the significance of the name Mournblade (brother sword to Elric of Melniborne’s sword Stormbringer^) and I liked the way that this LP seemingly translated all this into fantasy/sci-fi terms. Check out the back story; Bless the Blade!
Listening to this in 2013 I immediately think ‘Hawkwind, Hawkwind, Hawkwind’, but back in 1988 I had no such frame of reference and I just lapped it up. The spacey whooshing noises (God, I dig spacey whooshing noises!!), the pretentious bits in the lyrics and the fact that Mournblade were a very good rock band, with a real bite in places. Just witness the hard rock of ‘Sidewinder’, with its appropriately jet-propelled riff, it still sounds really exhilarating to me. The heavier tracks like ‘Hunter Killer’ and ‘Titanium Hero’, just worked for me back then and I still like them now. Whereas I liked the escaping through a beer can, Edward Lear referencing, lyrics of ‘Battlezone’.
Listening back now I recognize that what limits Time’s Running Out in places is what usually does for bands in their position, cheap production values and that really is no criticism of Mournblade at all; it is very rare that a band can make a million dollar sounding LP without that spend. Not that they make a bad fist of it, it is just that certain bits sound a bit thin whereas others could do with a bit of sonic fattening (sorry if I’m getting too technical here folks!), but I guess that Flicknife Records couldn’t afford 4 weeks of Mutt Lange out in the Bahamas. So Mournblade had to push on through to the other side relying on their road-honed chops and force of will.
I remember that the band broke up a few years after Time’s Running Out and became a Motörhead-style metal trio, who played a couple of times and then faded away.
When I was looking at this LP again I looked up Mournblade for the first time ever and this really rather good website I really would recommend a look, particularly the various tales of rock and roll silliness they got involved in. They seem to have been stalwarts of the Stonehenge (pictured on the back cover of the LP) free festival scene^^ and the Hawkwind links are detailed in full. I was really pleased to see that amidst all the vast tracts of the internet dedicated to nonsense and porn, there was a little corner that would be forever Mournbladed.
When the history of Rock is eventually carved onto the side of the mystic mountains of Amruth-Baal, by gigantic totally well-stacked Valkyrie wearing nothing but skimpy chainmail bikinis, it shall be remembered that Mournblade also served.
206 Down.
And here’s a taste:
*home town of Ritchie Blackmore, not that it’s relevant.
**apart from the Jerry Cornelius books, I could never get on with those.
^I could go on about it’s capacity to drink the souls of the wounded, the fact that it is in fact a trapped demon and had a certain corrupt free will of its own leading to all manner of inadvertent betrayal and self-loathing on the part of its wielder, but I’m trying to pass myself off as a ‘normal’ these days and I don’t want to frighten all the hot chicks away.
^^note for overseas chums, free festival celebrating the Summer solstice witness to some horrifically heavy-handed policing during late 80’s, courtesy of our little-mourned then prime minister.
I’ve been trawling through a lot of your posts (that you’ve kept this going for so long at such quality is admirable!), saw this one and thought “space rock? No, must be a different Mournblade” but reading the comments, it is indeed the same band I’d come across back in the day! I can confirm their time as a Motorhead-ish 4-piece had real substance to it, they were at the crossover of hard street rock and metal. Sadly I can also confirm they definitely didn’t play to 250,000 baying Brazilians – when I saw them it was to 2 callow Derbyshire youths (me and my friend Andy), and that was about it, in Stockport of all places. They were pretty storming though, and we had a quick chat with Dunken afterwards who was really friendly despite clearly and understandably being a bit narked at the total lack of turnout. I think I later sent them some questions for my somewhat lame attempt at a fanzine, and they sent some really cool responses.
In the spirit of this blog I feel I should say I bought a copy of the “Live Fast Die Young” album that’s been mentioned by others. The production is a bit thin, doubtless due to lack of funds, but the crazy skills of bassplayer Blacken really stand out, he’s credited with playing 4 and 8 string basses. Some of the money may have gone on the rather nice sleeve, black with embossed white skeletal tragedy and comedy theatre masks (think a much better, gothicky version of Motley Crue’s ‘Theatre of Pain’ cover). Quite a nice artefact!
Thanks again fella. Sadly, I inherited my uncles signed copy of Times Running Out a while ago now and I have played and enjoyed it a few times since.
It’s great to have an eyewitness to their rockier period on board. Live Fast is definitely on my (endless) list. I’ve never seen a copy in the flesh.
Some great unsung Brit rock around at that particular time.
PS: I hope you made sure they played to 2 baying Derbyshireians.
The original line-up recently ‘reformed’ to record a new album; ‘Time’s Running Out 2015’ – featuring new versions of the original material plus three extra songs. This album benefits from quality production and is also now available on vinyl…
The original line-up recently ‘reformed’ to record ‘Time’s Running Out 2015’, a re-visiting of original material plus three extra songs. Much better production and also now available on vinyl…
Mournblade made a second album “Life fast die young” in 1988 much more motorhead style rock n roll, but as a 4 piece not a trio. The band recently reformed and headlined a festival in holland – there was a great documentary made about it (search for it on youtube) and there is a new single out “Selling your ass (for the big time).
Hi Dunken!
I’ll check it out, I’d love to see them in the flesh. Since writing my review I’ve played TRO a few more times and it is an LP I’ve got a lot of affection for (if that makes sense).
I remember Kerrang! Reviewing Mournblade as a 3-piece (and a duo once, I think?) very favourably.
Thanks a lot for stopping by, it’s appreciated.
It was indeed lovely to see them in the flesh! Quite a band. Lovely fellas too.
Hi thanks for stumbling across my nonsense! I’m jealous, my uncle said they were lovely guys too – one for the time machine maybe!
Can’t believe I missed this entry. Mournblade. The name says it all, really. And that excerpt up there? Soma? Miles below the dome? Space Crusier? Sounds like a mix of Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, and Thomas Pynchon. Excellent.
Mournblade is yet another band that escaped my radar. Though, if this was the mid-eighties my musical scope was limited to a small Midwestern town’s answer to the brick n’ mortar record store, Metal Edge, Circus, and an older brother who was increasingly stoned and morphing into a mix of Jim Morrison, Dave Mustaine, and Frank Zappa. So Mournblade was too far off in the distance for me to hear them.
Trust me Mr H, this one sadly escaped most people’s radar – I’d never have found them if it hadn’t been for my uncle Alistair.
From your description your bro rocks, clearly he was the amalgam of all that was cool.
Now where’s that soma? it’s supposed to be good for sore necks ..
You have an uncle named Alistair? That’s pretty cool. I had an uncle named Wilbur. He had a goat he liked to feed whiskey to and a spider monkey for a pet. The monkey would pick candy out of my brother’s pants pocket when he was a little kid. Scared the hell out of my brother.
I think the monkey trauma followed my brother into adulthood. He drowned those traumas out with weed, girls, and rock n’ roll. Can’t say I blame him.
I insist you write a song called Monkey Trauma immediately! No excuses, just think how cool the story will be in interviews.
Damn! That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long while! Consider it done.
Maybe it’s the Stonehenge connection, but they almost seem like the real life inspiration for Spinal Tap. Sure, it takes a lot of exaggeration, but if you squint your eyes/ears/mind …
Honestly, this was the kind of thing that kept my interest in music until I discovered punk: the fantasy-based hard-rock-or-metal bands.
Bless the blade!
Has me rushing for ‘Warrior on the Edge of Time’. Fabulous.
And matching your candour, there was a time when I wanted to be Elric when I grew up. I suspect that was during my Atomic Rooster phase.
Who did the visuals on the clip?
Never heard a note Atomic Rooster ever played I’m embarrassed to say, although I know Vincent Crane from his work with Arthur Brown.
I just grabbed the clip from YouTube, not sure who did the visuals, but I will go back and thank them because someone’s taken real time and care over them.