Is it my imagination or is there a NWOBHM revival? It seems the case as 'Cloven Hoof' are one of a number of early 80's UK Metallers to have recently reformed. There last album 'A Sultan's Ransom' was released way back in '89, but here they are again with the uncompromising 'Eye of the Sun'. Disappointingly only one original member, bassist 'Lee Payne' is present but he's assembled a respectable outfit, with no shortage of talent, especially vocalist 'Matt Moreton' whose abilities shine through on many tracks. Musically they do seem a little unsure which genre they want to proceed with, there's elements of NWOBHM, the occasion flash of European Speed / Thrash and overall a few too many modern moments for my liking, that said they still manage to notch up a few respectable efforts.

'Eye of the Sun' opens with 'Inquisitor', regrettably not a cover of the 'Raven' song, but an aggressive modern meets traditional Metal ripper, It starts out promisingly with sharp cutting vocals and fine soloing, but from nowhere descends into Nu Metal territory and while it closes decently, it's lost potential by this point. More traditional sounding is the title track which to my ear sounds like a Metallic version of 60's Rocker 'Cream', thankfully this is a more melodic than the opener and 'Matt Moreton' lays down some fine vocals, while the guitar fuelled instrumental break has a fitting Eastern feel. Next up is 'Cyberworld', the standard “Digital era” song most Metal bands have explored, this is a decent effort, a little more commercial sounding with a big melodic chorus, lyrically it's trite and predictable. but all told still a good driving rocker. Into more epic territory is the riff driven 'Kiss of Evil' another track with plenty of promise, but just when you think this is a classic melodic rocker complete with smooth vocals, they again slip in the odd Nu / Rap Metal sounding verse- why, it adds absolutely nothing to what otherwise is an a excellent track- also lacks a proper ending to the song. After a fairly laboured intro, 'Eye of the Zombie' proceeds as an interesting pulsating rocker, the simplistic chorus is catchy and effective, but ultimately the verses are too monotonous to make the grade. The tempo is lifted for the chugging 'Absolute Power' (originally going to be title track) a decent affair with a sort of 'Metallica' feel, and not too dissimilar from some of 'Rage's' early work either, sorry to say the song is again blighted by some suspect modern vocal passages. The best track of the album is brought about by the lively pulsating 'Whore of Babylon', the chorus is simple but very catchy and further braced by strong verses, fine fret work and 'Moreton' again on excellent form. After a melodic intro 'Golgotha' develops as an energetic plodder, lyrically it's a little too repetitive, but the brisk instrumental break and mid track lull are a nice touch. More contemporary in approach is the pulsating 'King for a Day', the rhythm work compliments of 'Lee Payne' and 'Lynch Raminsky' is potent, but as with a lot of tracks present soon becomes repetitive and predictable. The album closes on a high with the more thoughtfully crafted epic 'Angels in Hell', a more traditional sounding Metal number, that at times has that European Speed Metal sound, the subtle intro draws you in nicely while the instrumentation is tight throughout and not too dissimilar from 'Iron Maiden'.

I'd like to rate this higher as there's plenty of positives, but ultimately not enough tracks reach their potential and for their next album I personally think they need to concentrate more on which genre they want to fit into.