The addition of Harry “The Tyrant” Conklin to the Cloven Hoof fold has been one of the most welcome personnel changes of the decade thus far. Armed with the legendary Jag Panzer frontman, the NWOBHM vets returned in 2024 with their strongest album in quite some time, Heathen Cross: An effort that really tapped into that occult vein of their earliest output. Despite the ever-rotating nature of their lineup, founding bassist Lee Payne has managed to keep this incarnation together for another album, and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Never a Prophet in Your Own Land is the band’s 10th studio album, and a stunning snapshot of where these heavy metal sultans lie in 2026.
Whereas Heathen Cross thematically picked up where 1984’s eponymous debut left off, pivoting gears from the power metal-centric nature of the George Call years, Never a Prophet feels like an amalgamation of everything this band has done so well over the past nearly 45 years. We’ve got old school, balls to the wall NWOBHM-derived headbangers. We’ve got flashes of grandiose epic power metal glory. We’ve even got tasty ’70s metal barn burners in the vein of the mighty Deep Purple, complete with grooving riffs and virtuosic soloing. Needless to say, Never a Prophet offers a little bit of something for everybody.
The rampaging “Terror from the Skies” hits the ground running and vanquishes any doubts that Cloven Hoof didn’t have the power metal bug left in ’em. It certainly helps to have Conklin, one of the earliest power metal vocalists, belting out those signature leather-lunged screams at full force, setting the stage for a hell of an outing. Bombastic cuts like “Conquistador”, “Iron Mask”, “Flying Dutchman”, and the title track toe the line between CH’s late ’80s renaissance and Iron Maiden-tinged romanticism, without sounding explicitly like any given Maiden tunes. On the flip side are ‘eavy rockers like “Gypsy Roller” and “The Bigger They Are: Unabashedly Purple-hued and tailormade for cranking up with the windows down.
Now Payne has been abundantly clear in multiple interviews that Purple is one of his biggest influences, if not his biggest. However, there haven’t been any clear points in the CH catalog where we’ve been able to pinpoint this connection until now. The biggest giveaway on Never a Prophet isn’t the Blackmore-esque riffs or even Conklin’s Gillan-derived vocal lines, but keyboardist Chris Dando assuming control as a lead player. Whereas Heathen Cross saw Dando using keys to provide atmosphere and texture, giving off strong Tony Martin era Sabbath vibes, Never a Prophet sees him shift into Jon Lord mode, using his instrument as a weapon that can hang with Conklin and guitarists Luke Hatton and Chris Coss.
Throw in a blatantly NWOBHM-fashioned slab of nostalgia in “Phantom Chaser”, another Purple tinted banger in “Prodigal Son”, and an exotic closer in “Seven Sacred Wonders”, and you’ve got yourself the strongest Cloven Hoof album since A Sultan’s Ransom (1989). Never a Prophet in Your Own Land isn’t a game changer on par with the aforementioned ’89 masterpiece, but it is confident, steel-clad beast of an album that never lets up. Assuming this lineup can keep it together for another outing, there’s no telling what greatness Cloven Hoof will achieve with album #11.
8 out of 10
Label: High Roller Records
Genre: Heavy Metal
For fans of: Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Satan
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