Colosseum II was formed in 1975 by drummer Jon Hiseman- bringing together Gary Moore-  acoustic/ electric guitar & vocals, Don Airey-Fender Rhodes, piano, ARP Odyssey, mini Moog, Hammond organ, Clavinet, tubular bells. John Mole- bass, and Jon Hiseman- drums & percussion. Between 76 & 77 the band released three albums-Strange New Flesh, Electric Savage, and this one Wardance.

The album takes in eight tracks, and all but one of these are purely instrumental affairs. The tracks have a running time between three & six minutes, and for the most part, the compositions are nicely sleek & concise. Yes, these guys can play in a wonderful fluid and flawless manner- but the here never become too showy, or ego-bound, with each member of the band adding their own elements to the mix to make very approachable-to- atmospheric rock guitar focused fusion sound.

The album begins with the six-minute title track- this opens up with a rising blend pulsing & swirling synth texturing, detailed percussive detail, and scorching & epic guitar lines, which have more than a hint of jaunting & taut royal parade about them. By around the two-minute mark, we’ve moved to a blend simmering blues rocked lined guitar, that’s underpinned by cymbal active percussion, and slightly jiving keyboard underlay. The four-piece melding together perfectly here- to create an epic & scorching opener.

Track four is the sole vocal track here, and its entitled "Castle"- and for me, this feels rather out of place. Firstly the singer(I’m guessing it’s Moore), is way over singing in an almost showy/ mock emotional manner, with some really painful highs. Next, the musical backing is rather mawkish AOR ballad, mixed with some jazzy/ soul flourishers- the whole thing just feels both awkward & cringe-worthy. Thankfully this is the lowest point on the album, and the rest of the album comes back up to point.

We have the chugging blues rock -meets- searing rock guitar prancing & grooving of “Flight Talk”. Onto speedy & epic guitar widdling meets choppy slightly eastern organ flavored vibe of “The Inquisition”.  Onto the longest track here “ Star Maiden/ Mysterious/ Quasar”- this moves from laid-back start which sees a mix of mellow bass guitar wonderings & rising-to-lush synth/ piano blend. Onto dramatic & darting keyboard/ bass interplays, with building-to-scorching guitar soloing on top. Onto the brightly synth/ guitar cascading feel of the end, which featured some great bright & tight drumming-all rather bringing to mind Yes in the 70’s.

This CD reissue appears on Cherry Red Sub-label Esoteric  Recordings- so soundwise we get a nice & crisp remastering, with all the musicians elements balanced nicely. We get a glossy 16-page inlay booklet- this takes in a mix of close-ups from the cover artwork, and a new six-page write-up about the band & the Wardance album. There are no extra tracks here, so the whole thing has a fairly short runtime of just forty-two minutes- but I’m guessing there must have been nothing that could have been used as bonus material from the time

It’s a real pity that Colosseum II split up after the this album, as they were highly accomplished-playing well togeather, offering up a  fairly distinctive take on fusion. Certainly, this will be of interest to fans of more guitar/ rock based fusion, but I can also those who enjoy more instrumental virtuoso guitar albums digging this too.