The Dutch heavy metal scene of the '80s has given birth to many jewels, and one of them was "Down Town", a debut LP of EMERALD. It was the only album of the band until now, when their long awaited comeback finally sees the light of day. A 32-year gap between the albums is huge... Many bands fail to revive their spirit, but EMERALD fans have nothing to fear: the record sounds as if it was a "lost" gem from the '80s! The songwriting hasn't changed (actually many of these songs were written soon after the debut was out), and Bert Kivits' vocals still have this incredible youthful energy and feel, though now they're smoother, not as extremely high-pitched and shrill as back in the day. The production is also totally old school - the fully analogue recording, engineering and mastering resulted in great warm sound, which will be for sure appreciated by the fans. And if you're not one of them yet, but love old heavy metal with a great dose of melody and clear NWOBHM influences, you will likely become one and put their new album next to classic records of UFO, THIN LIZZY, ANGEL WITCH, SATAN, BLITZKRIEG, RIOT, JUDAS PRIEST, CLOVEN HOOF, DIAMOND HEAD, PICTURE and CRIMSON GLORY.
