It started with a sound, which is where it should always start. A growling detuned guitar bellowing out a 5/4 riff, a groove that demanded attention blared out of headphones in a pub; “That's the band we should be in” was the consensus. A few guys from the Midlands who had been jamming together, playing small shows for beer money, scrapped all their material and started again with renewed purpose.

Embracing their passion for the originators of heavy music without being retro, Valhalla Smith...