Release Date 25.09.2026
Format CD/LP
Genre Heavy Metal (NWOBHM)
Origin England
Apocalypse is a band from London that built its name in the NWOBHM with the 1982 single "Storm Child". The album "The Prophet" arrived three years later under the name Omega, after a forced change of name. Guitarist and vocalist Steve Grainger started out with his brother Marc, a drummer, in an earlier band called Phaze, and bassist Dave Robertson completed the Apocalypse lineup. Marc and Dave have passed away, which leaves Grainger as the only one left. High Roller Records released "Abandon Hope" in 2010, and Grainger has since rebranded the band as Apocalypse NWOBHM.
"Last Man Standing" has nine tracks in 66(+6) minutes, written mostly by Grainger. Fresh songs sit next to older ones dating back to Phaze, with Marc and Dave contributing to the tracks, so the men who are gone have a voice on it. The production follows "Abandon Hope" from 2010 without a jump in sound, traditional British heavy metal with guitars and vocals up front in the mix, as the genre expects. Old and new songs share one sound, so the album plays as a single workbody, opening with "Phoenix Rising" and closing with "We Are The Chosen".
Grainger plays urgent and raw, like a man with something to settle. The lyrics nod to earlier Apocalypse material, with "The Prophet (Redemption)" (great song) calling back to the 1985 album of the same name, and the title track "The Last Man Standing" reads as plain fact given what happened to the men who stood beside him. Over an hour from one voice and one main guitarist is a long sit, and a couple of tracks run longer than their ideas need. That is the one flaw worth naming. It plays by NWOBHM rules and holds up on those terms, a strong return for a band that has lost most of its own.
|8.0
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