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INGLORIOUS
V
Frontiers Records Srl

If BLACK SABBATH's recent farewell performance has shown us anything, it's that many of our much-heralded classic rock heroes - some of whom we've occasionally taken for granted - are increasingly reaching their golden years as they yearn for a much-needed break from the rigors of the road and the often-confining conditions of the studio. Ironically, they were perhaps the only known band whose farewell performance managed to prompt both AEROSMITH frontman Steve Tyler and the members of SLAYER to briefly come out of their own much-publicized retirement to celebrate theirs if that's of some comfort to anyone hoping that their one-off performances at Back To The Beginning might lead both parties to reconsider their time off.

Otherwise, the current trend of classic rock bands calling time on their careers is still active. Just in the past two years alone, we've seen the likes of KISS, URIAH HEEP, BAD COMPANY and the aforementioned AEROSMITH publicly announce their retirement from touring. Even in the past six months of 2025, that list has grown to include REO SPEEDWAGON, THE WHO and now BLACK SABBATH - and particularly OZZY OSBOURNE - bowing out gracefully from touring as well. We can't say that we never saw this coming either as a recent social media post by Randy Bachmann had reminded us of the advancements of age of our rock gods, with many of them having been born in the mid to late 40's. But while there is much truth in this statement, is there any hope for the next generation ready to collect the torch for rock 'n roll?

One of such future recipients could very well be INGLORIOUS, who, despite their short tenure in the industry, are ambitious and tenacious go-getters with four studio albums and countless tours to their credit. Not even a global pandemic was able to fully curtail the London-based band's insatiable touring appetite even though it was mostly relegated to the Old Continent. Yet, by the band's own admission back in 2022, they'd been touring non-stop for seven years including promoting 2021's We Will Ride.

Somewhere in between, frontman Nathan James' bombastic soulful vocals were in such high demand by everyone from Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War Of The Worlds, Steve Steinman's Vampires Rock Symphonic, 80'S CLASSICAL, and ZEPPELIN SYMPHONIC to his own side project Supergroup ICONIC featuring Michael Sweet, Joel Hoekstra, Marco Mendoza, and Tommy Aldridge that he also took time to work on their projects as well. So, perhaps, understandable that INGLORIOUS signed off 2022 with a decent cover of HEART's "Barracuda" and a notice of "indefinite hiatus". The delivery of the news wasn't exactly, well, glorious, but it was necessary in order to avoid the band members likely going squirrely and completely imploding before another lengthy tour.

That's not to say that during their time off, the band weren't keeping busy anyway. Mostly because they were busy getting the band back together from the remnants of the We Will Ride-era lineup, as Nathan James explains:

"In the summer of 2023, I sent a message to (bassist/co-founder) Colin (Parkinson) and asked him if he wanted to come for a pint. A few meetings and writing sessions later, we had more than an album's worth of great material and I can honestly say I've enjoyed every second of creating this album with him and the new line-up. Colin has always been a great songwriter and over the years we've both matured as artists, writers, performers, and people. This is going to be a great year for INGLORIOUS and I'm excited to welcome Colin back and to share this new music with everyone."

The new INGLORIOUS lineup would include guitarist Richard Shaw, best known for his work with CRADLE OF FILTH, as well as NG26, EMPEROR CHUNG, and PLAGUE OF ANGELS and on drums, Nathan's longtime friend Henry Rogers, whose own past work includes TOUCHSTONE, MOSTLY AUTUMN, MIA KLOSE, and MARK KELLY'S MARATHON.

And, from there, V was born. It's a fifth album full of musical complexities, diverse ranges and quite possibly the best middle finger ever used towards many of the band's fiercest critics because the "V" sign is literally the UK version of the middle finger. And it's also the number 5 in Roman numerals.

Opening the album with Colin's heavy-sounding bass intro on the first single "Testify", Nathan delivers with the fury of a doomsday preacher as he rages "I can see the broken look in your eyes" in the song's chorus. The punchy-sounding "Eat You Alive" and the weighty downtuned SABBATH-sounding vibe of "Devil Inside" also bring forward the heaviness, with the latter having been born out of an experiment involving lower guitar tunings. "Say What You Wanna Say" is easily INGLORIOUS' punk rock-meets Snatch moment as Nathan's heavily-accented spoken intro is intimidatingly precise like he's about to kneecap someone. Elsewhere, the catchy upbeat melody of "In Your Eyes" seems and sounds uncharacteristically different at first listen mostly due to the familiarity of Nathan's vocals often being more dark-sounding but it still holds up nicely on the album. Closing out the album is "Power Of Truth" featuring Shaw's classical-sounding intro before launching into a heavy-sized banger midway through. As much as the rustic slide guitar sounds of Danny Dela Cruz and Dan Stevens from the We Will Ride period of INGLORIOUS' history is missed, Richard Shaw also brings a completely new dynamic to their sound, buffering up the rhythm while introducing a few neo-classical elements of playing throughout the album. Produced by Colin Parkinson, V was mixed by keyboardist Tony Draper, who also worked on the albums II and Ride To Nowhere, ensuring the album retains the band's signature sound while exploring new heights.

With the latest version of INGLORIOUS putting on a new face with their own new faces in its lineup, the band have made a bold statement on V about their musical progression, which, alone should earn them recognition amongst their current contemporaries as well as their musical forefathers before them. Certainly an 11-year career spanning five studio albums and relentless roadwork merits a glorious two thumbs up as it is.

5.0 Out Of 5.0

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