Spell, a power-trio comprising Cam Mesmer (lead vocals/bass) Graham McVie (guitars/backing vocals) and Lester Spectre (drums/backing vocals) started out life as Stryker (not to be confused with Striker, the other Canadian metal band who released records on Napalm Records), playing '80s-inspired and thrash-damaged metal, before they made the decision to change their moniker to better reflect the more oracular style that was evolving in splendid isolation in British Columbia. Looming into the darker quarters of the consciousness like some gloriously nightmarish analgam of the mystical ambience of the '70s and the jagged attack of the '80s, For None And All makes no secrets of the classics that have informed its feverish drive, yet Mesmer insists that the band see themselves as a contemporary beast. "Although obviously we love 70's bands and idealize a time when rock 'n roll could be loud and weird and unique and experimental without being so self-conscious, we don't consider ourselves to be a throwback or pastiche act in any way" Indeed, whilst the discerning listener will be able to hear traces of the mystical aura of Blue Öyster Cult and the seductive contortions of King Crimson and Rush on For None And All, and also the malevolent and righteous bravura that Judas Priest and Scorpions made manifest throughout the ages, what Spell excel in more so is a suspension of disbelief that transforms these infectious psychodramas and tales of the supernatural into a turbulent and tempestuous psychic shockwave that raises pulse-rates as easily as it haunts the dreams.