ALBUM REVIEW: Set Your World On Fire by Asomvel

For nearly two decades, Asomvel has lived amongst others who’ve received comparison to rock and roll’s most sacred outlaw. Resemblances to Motörhead are inevitable, but on Set Your World On Fire, the Yorkshire quartet sound even more like disciples carrying a battle standard through the smoking ruins of modern hard rock.

Across twelve tracks, the band delivers a relentless barrage of scorched-earth riffing, thunderous percussion and enough venom to poison a city's water supply. Ralph Robinson's voice remains the perfect instrument for this apocalypse. Weathered, gravel-soaked and permanently one cigarette away from collapse, his vocals drag every song deeper into the darkness while the Robinson guitar partnership unleashes riff after riff with ruthless efficiency.

The album explodes into life without warning with King of the World. No dramatic introduction or gradual build. Just double-kick drums smacking like artillery fire provided by Ryan Thackwray, screaming guitars and enough attitude to demolish a brick wall.

The album rarely eases off the accelerator. Tracks such as Lone Wolf, Back from the Dead (It's Your Funeral), and the title track are packed with blistering guitar work, thunderous rhythms and massive choruses designed for beer-soaked festival fields. Guitarists Lenny and Stel Robinson repeatedly steal the spotlight, delivering solos that are flashy without becoming self-indulgent.

What prevents the record from becoming a one-dimensional exercise in speed is the band's willingness to introduce moments of weight and substance. World at War stands out as one of the album's strongest cuts, bringing a darker atmosphere and a more reflective lyrical focus.

Later highlights include the tongue-in-cheek anthem If It's Too Loud, You're Too Old, which perfectly encapsulates the band's philosophy. It's loud, unapologetic, and delivered with a smirk. You can tell they’ve been hanging around with Aussie adrenaline-fuelled Airbourne, and I think they’ve rubbed off in just the right way.

Set Your World On Fire isn’t interested in subtlety. It’s an album wrapped in leather, soaked in petrol and hurled through the nearest window, remaining devoted to volume, velocity and visceral power. That’s simply what works for them, so why fix what isn’t broken?

Review by Neve Saltmarsh.