One interesting thing about the United Kingdom is that while English has been the primary language spoken for centuries, pockets of civilization exist in which Celtic languages still thrived. English is a language derived from a strange combination of Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) and Norman (Romance), both quite different language families than Celtic. As a result, Celtic languages have a much different look, feel and sound to them than English, and many predate English by several centuries.Welsh is the most popular of the Celtic languages spoken in the United Kingdom, and as such, it only makes sense that a handful of bands would come from Welsh speaking areas. Forming at the height of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal explosion, Y Diawled (translating to 'The Devils' in English), their vinyl release came in 1982 with a track on the four song Fflach Records compilation entitled "Shwt Mae Siapus", which would be followed by the "S.O.S" 7" a year later in 1983. With original singer Kevin Davies backing the band, these tracks while being competant NWOBHM, did not particularly stand out from the rest of their peers. Some moments in this era of the band remind me a bit of the songs from the first Witchfynde LP.
1983 showed the band recruiting Rhiannon Tomos, who has had a very successful solo career in the realm of Welsh rock music. Tomos has a very powerful, almost gravelly voice which to my ears sounds a bit like Janis Joplin might have sounded like if she fronted a Welsh heavy metal band. Tomos' addition to the band brought a whole different dimension to the band's sound, adding a much more mystical and ancient feel to the music. The 1983 7" "Noson Y Blaidd" ('Night of the Wolf') was her only recording with the band before the band folded, leaving her to pursue her solo career even further.
Containing two brilliant heavy metal tracks, the A-side of the 7" is the slow and brooding title track, featuring somewhat intricate and well placed leads. Not quite moving or constructed like a doom song, the song's slower pace and moody vocal delivery creates a rather eerie mood which goes well with the minimalistic cover design of a set of inhuman looking eyes peering out from the darkness under a reddish moon. The B-side, "Dewch Gyda Ni" ('Come with Us') is an upbeat scorcher of a song with a completely different tone than its A-side. With a faster driving beat and an unstoppable riff behind it, it gives the perfect opportunity to Tomos who really showcases her vocal abilities, belting her way through the song. Its a shame she didnt get a chance to record more material with the band, as these two tracks really show her command of vocal ability. One of her previous tracks "Cer รข Hi" from her solo days before joining Y Diawled is also a ripping, almost speed metal song, but a majority of her solo output I've heard is basic bar rock type stuff which does not hold too much particular interest to me.
A bunch of cool live footage of the band (including performances of several unreleased songs from the Davies era) can be found on Youtube, the best of which is Tomos singing the song "Noson Y Blaidd" at a concert in 1984, which can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9t9FF2L7Jw
As far as I know, none of the Y Diawled stuff has not been reissued in any form, so some of the material can be difficult to track down, but is absolutely worth it for any serious NWOBHM collectors or heavy metal fans.
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