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Iain Ashley Hersey is without doubt one the the finest guitarists and songwriters that I have heard in a long time.  Iain's early influences compromised of Cream and Led Zeppelin then later Deep Purple and Mountain. After playing with a slew of bands, Iain started to realize his limitations so in order to better educate himself musically; he enrolled in Boston's Berklee College of Music. Once there and driven to be the best musician that he could be, got completely involved in jazz. Eventually Iain realized that music does not have to be complex to be good.  It was at this time that Iain reverted back to playing classic rock but utilising his new vocabulary to make for more original music.

This led to Iain recording his debut Iain Ashley Hersey - Fallen Angel (1999 Frontiers Records) . This album was based heavily on 70's rock but with a more modern approach, especially to the lead guitar.  So here we are some 6 years later and album number 2 has emerged in The Holy Grail.

The Holy Grail is full of the kind of expressive hard rock that only a handful of artists are able to produce these days. Utilising 4 powerful vocalists in  Graham Bonnett (Rainbow / MSG etc), Carsten 'Lizard' Schulz (Domain), David Montgomery and Randy Williams; Iain has managed to bring variety yet consistency in the quality stakes to this album. Fans of expressive guitar work will hear a true original in Iain Ashley Hersey with super warm Strat tones being his stock in trade.

Opener Blood Of Kings has a dark menacing vibe, that allows it mid tempo groove to mesmerise rather than blasting you into submission. Its quite Zeppelin-esque in its approach and orchestration and sets the albums quality at 'top notch' right from the start.

 In The Light has a definite Deep Purple vibe to it, thanks to its bluesy riff that leads into the scat type verse with its call and response approach. The chorus sees the track head more into darker waters with its rolling riff. The guitar solos here are gems, to hear a master player really digging into those strings is a joy to behold, made all the more special by Hersey's rich tone.

To The Sea is enriched throughout by some Blackmore-ish moody slide work before settling into the main riff which is backed up by some Hammond organ giving of somewhat of a vintage Rainbow vibe. There is also some discreet orchestration inflections here that add nicely to the dark vibe. Hersey's solo here has a big fat tone that is full off balls, again Hersey shows here that restraint is the key preferring to work around the vocal melody for the basis of his solo.

Track 4, Blink Of An Eye again sees a relatively mid tempo number. This track is slightly more commercial sounding that then rest on offer thanks to its AOR-ish chorus and is the only track here to feature Randy Williams on vocals. Again Hammond Organ is used to good effect here used to extend the chords. Hersey adds in some nice tapped chords (that although being quite subtle in the mix) add depth. The solo from is again full of emotion and the guitar does cry and wail here, a nice double harmony lead motif leads back into the chorus.

Empty Planet sees the appearance of Domain vocalist Carsten Schulz who is my favourite of the four vocalists featured. The track is based in the classic rock genre and allows Hersey to take an extended solo that has a definite jazz feel to it which works well over the straight rock underneath. The pre-chorus here is a gem with a superb melody line.

Lost & Foolish begins with a dark almost eastern tinged vibe and an original timing, over which Hersey lays down some more sublime six string sorcery. The track then leaps into a superb classic rock verse that is up there with the best of Rainbow in their Joe Lynn Turner period. The track is again underpinned by great Hammond Organ work that managed to add depth yet avoid being intrusive.

Calling For The Moon is probably my favourite on the album, thanks in no small part to the very simple, yet awesome in its delivery verse. Less is definitely more here; it also allows Schulz's gritty vocal delivery to really shine (the guy sounds like a young Sammy Hagar to these ears). The track takes an almost Aerosmith-esque funky breakdown for the start of the guitar solo before it leads into darker waters before modulating back to the verse riff over which Hersey is absolutely smokin' at this point - awesome stuff!

Tocatta In D Minor is a sole guitar instrumental version of the Bach classic. Hersey makes good use of imitating the various tones and timbres of the church organ with his guitar, aided by what sounds like an octave pedal in places and some Hammond Organ on the big chords - those that want to hear what a vintage Marshall plexi and Strat sound like with no studio "trickery" listen up.

We now get to the three tracks that weren't featured on the demo version which we looked at over a year ago.  These 3 new additions as it were all feature vocal legend Graham Bonnet sounding better than he has in many a year.  First off is a cover of Going Down, a standard of any self respecting covers band and its Hersey funky finger picked working of the main track that brings it out from the crowd.  Walking The Talk has a Rainbow vibe about it and sees Bonnet spitting out the lyrics in fine fashion.  The Holy Grail (track) is where the pairing are really delivering the goods, great riff and chorus again all powered along with a super tight band and Bonnet's scream on top.  Fans of vintage Rainbow should pick the album up for these three tracks alone.

The instrumental retrospective in feel Auf Wiedersehen closes the album with a touch of decadent class. Here Hersey's guitar carries the melody on its broad shoulders and the impassioned playing builds as the track progresses. The guitar work manages to dazzle yet also mesmerise as the emotional touch is prevalent throughout, whether it be the crying cut off bends or the aggressive whammy bar work or the smooth legato runs. Overall its a great instrumental and a fine way to close the CD.

The Holy Grail may seem like a pompous statement; yet give this a few spins and you will realise that what Iain Ashley Hersey has produced here is a superb piece of work worthy of the title. There is very little to fault; the main gripe may well be that there is not enough material, yet at over the hour mark you would call it 'value for money. This is an album that deserves to be owned by any self respecting classic rock fan and if the recent output from Deep Purple leaves you feeling sick, Blackmore's medievel meanderings drive you mad or you just yearn for some superb songs backed by superb musicianship then you owe it yourself to pick up The Holy Grail today.  Album of the 2005?  Quite possibly.