Having done much to light a blaze under '90s U.K. rock, The Almighty — the full force riffin' machine formed in Scotland in 1988 — has long been regarded as a four-man gang to be reckoned with, splicing elements of rock, punk and metal to telling effect… And now, with the band's reputation continuing to flourish, a late-September reissue of the early catalogue has been confirmed, with Spinefarm taking over from Polydor (the band's original home) as the label co-ordinating the campaign.

Before first hanging up their leathers in 1996, then later — following a brief reformation — in 2002, the band released a series of recordings, studio and live, that saw them rise to front cover status on home turf, lauded by fans and critics alike.

With Black Star Riders/Thin Lizzy frontman Ricky Warwick leading the charge, The Almighty travelled the world, toured with legends (Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, MotÖRhead, etc.), played the main stage at Download (then called Monsters Of Rock), appeared on "Top Of The Pops", had a Top 5 album and successive Top 30 singles, and generally delivered straight from the hip, thrilling audiences who liked their hard rock complete with sleeve-tattoos plus a tiger-eyed commitment to The Cause.

Musically, the band staked their ground between MotÖRhead and "Electric"-era The Cult, with plenty of punk snot 'n' spirit to spice up the brew; all of which made their early Polydor releases — five albums, starting with 1989's "Blood, Fire & Love" — the sort of hell-for-leather offerings best listened to with the better crockery firmly locked away.

The initial batch of reissues (fully official and put together with band involvement) will appear beneath the "Re-F**Kin’-Issues" banner and be divided into two parts — the first pair of titles coming out on September 30, and the following releases early in 2014. All of the reissues will come complete with extensive bonus content, including live, studio, remix and acoustic recordings, plus liner notes, special packaging and track-by-track comments from Ricky Warwick.

"We are all very excited to finally have The Almighty releases available again," exclaims Ricky, currently in the throes of an acoustic U.K. tour. "It's been 25 years and this music deserves to be heard. It's kind of like seeing an old friend again and it’s like the years never passed!"

"Re-F**King-Issues": September 30, 2013

* "Blood, Fire & Love" (originally released in 1989)
* "Soul Destruction" (originally released in 1991)

To support these re-releases, long awaited by fans, there is talk of live The Almighty shows featuring key original members, and also a brand new studio album, but then that's not really surprising given that track No. 1 on album No. 1 was "Resurrection Mutha"!