THIS WEEK I’M LISTENING TO......AVALANCHE – Armed To The Teeth (Metropolitan Groove Merchants)THIS WEEK I’M LISTENING TO......AVALANCHE – Armed To The Teeth (Metropolitan Groove Merchants)

Storming footsoldiers from a land down under, there’s little disguising that AVALANCHE tread heavily in the footsteps of fellow Australian acts AC/DC and Airbourne. Led from the front by the husband and wife team of Steven and Veronica Campbell (bass / vocals, and lead guitar respectively), Avalanche’s debut album ‘Armed To The Teeth’ is shot through with bluesy swagger and razor-sharp high-octane riffing, and there’s more couldn’t-give-a-toss attitude on the twelve cuts on offer than you’ll find in a busload of teenagers on a school outing. Along with rhythm guitarist Blake Poulton and drummer Bon Lowe these guys are the real deal, hard driving whiskey rock-a-rollers (as Lynryd Skynyrd nearly said), and although the band are never going to change the world this album will put a smile on your face and pump your adrenaline levels all the way to the max for forty minutes or so.

Avalanche_band_2026

There’s no let-up, no respite, from the onslaught of power chords and sweat. Avalanche crank out bruiser after bruiser, neck-breaking riff after neck-breaking riff, flashy solo after flashy solo. ‘Bottle Of Sin’ is furious pugilist with tattooed knuckles, ‘Kick Your Heels Back’ crashes along like an out-of-control juggernaut and ‘Dad I Joined A Rock N’ Roll Band’ just about says it all. It’s pedal-to-the-metal stuff as the songs race by – bang! bang! bang! three cuts failing to break the three-minute mark – and leave the listener struggling to keep up. It’s frenetic just on CD; onstage, this band must be like a hurricane in a bottle.

I suppose, if you want to be picky, Avalanche do stray a little far into Angus Young and co.’s territory at times, with the title track coming over not unlike ‘Thunderstruck’ in its opening bars and ‘Hell’s Getting Hotter With You’ aping ‘Let There Be Rock’ in places, but if there’s any imitation it’s more homage than mimicry. And, besides, with such a high energy band as this kicking back like it’s 1976 it really doesn’t matter. If you take the very, very best of AC/DC, stick it in a blender and crank it up to eleven, you've got Avalanche in a nutshell. Glorious.

Video clips:
‘Down For The Count’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCt8vm3WCzc
‘On The Bags Again’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjwXEQCkP8E&list=RDfjwXEQCkP8E&start_radio=1

John Tucker February 2026