Review: Memories Of Old – Never Stop Believing

Limb Music (October 24^th, 2025)

Reviewer – David Pearce

Memories of Old are a power metal band, whose debut album ‘The Zeramin Game’ made a big impact five years ago. Their long awaited follow-up is called ‘Never Stop Believing’ and it looks to build upon their reputation. This British band is made up of co-founders Billy Jeffs, who plays drums, guitars and keyboards, and Anthony Thompson on keyboards, together with Noah Simmons the lead vocalist, Rhys Morgan on bass and Wayne Dorman on lead guitar. Their music takes in influences as diverse as Yngwie Malmstein, Freddie Mercury and Metallica so what does this album hold in store for fans and those new to the band?

‘The Turn of a Page’ sounds like the opening titles to an epic movie and moves between film genres from superhero to fantasy to war movies. It is an instrumental just over a minute long so it doesn’t outstay its welcome. ‘Never Stop Believing’ has a very similar intro featuring excellent drumming from Billy Jeffs and an effective guitar riff from Wayne Dorman. When Noah Simmons starts singing it sounds like the opening to an 80s adventure movie, a rock version of ‘Never Ending Story’ came to mind. It’s a very interesting hybrid of styles. ‘Guardians of the Kingdom’ has a more traditional feel to it, being a track that recounts an epic struggle in a Tolkein style world. If Track 2 is the title track of the album, Track 4 is that rarer beast, the eponymously titled track! ‘Memories of Old’ has a much more traditional metal feel to it even with the Viking style chants in the background. It is a marching song to accompany troops into battle and gives the album a lift with a track that will no doubt go down very well in a live setting.

The fifth track ‘Fly Away Together’ starts with a Europe style keyboard intro while the guitar of Dorman and the bass of Rhys Morgan complement each other really well. It is where the album really takes off for me. ‘After the Storm’ sounds very like The Final Countdown and it is great fun from beginning to end with a very good vocal from Simmons. The next track is the start of the second half of the album and ‘Fire in the Night’ is a fast and frantic song with a bravura drumming performance from Jeffs. ‘Life Begins Again’ is the rock ballad that is virtually required on every album. As a fan of rock ballads I say long may it continue! It is a good example of the genre and concludes a very strong section from tracks 5 to 8.  

The last third of the album starts with ‘End of the Tunnel’ a song with an intro unlike any other on the album. It sounds like a beefed up synth pop track that incorporates a rock sensibility seamlessly. ‘Rebirth: An Epilogue’ is the penultimate track on all but the CD version and it returns to the epic movie theme style of ‘The Turn of a Page’. This is followed by the epic in length – 8 minutes 12 seconds – and scope ‘Journey to the Stars’ which returns to the template of ‘After the Storm’ and builds throughout as more layers are added, It’s an excellent finish to the album that gets better and better as it progresses. On the CD there is a bonus track ‘Some Day Soon’ which harks back to the earlier section of the album. It features a performance from Simmons that is perhaps his most effective across the album.

This is an album that has a clear thematic thread running through it and Memories of Old make it work with their complete commitment to it. It’s an album that’s definitely worth a listen.

Tracklisting:

1. The Turn of a Page (Intro)
2. Never Stop Believing
3. Guardians of the Kingdom
4. Memories Of Old
5. Fly Away Together
6. After the Storm
7. Fire in the Night
8. Life Begins Again
9. End of the Tunnel
10. Rebirth: An Epilogue
11. Journey to the Stars
12. Some Day Soon

Line-up:

Billy Jeffs: guitars, drums, keyboards, orchestration, backing vocals

Noah Simmons: lead vocals

Rhys Morgan: bass guitar

Anthony Thompson: keyboards

Wayne Dorman: lead guitars

Web Links:

Official Website

Faceboook

Instagram

YouTube