December 2019 Feature Release - The Pit Edition

The start of December sees us kicking off a new undertaking. We'll be nominating a monthly feature release for each clan & are asking you to rate, review & discuss it for no other reason than because we enjoy it. Ben & I will certainly be contributing & we look forward to hearing your thoughts too. 

This month's feature release for The Pit is the 1983 second album from Belgian speed metallers Acid entitled "Maniac". This was one of the defining releases for the speed metal movement but Acid are rarely mentioned in the same conversations as a band like Exciter. Perhaps unfairly. We're interested to hear what you think of it so don't be shy.

Speed Metal Rush

An infectiously fun album cover to cover. It was a pleasant surprise hearing a female vocalist on an album like this who has the pipes to really drive the act home. When I first put this on I could have sworn I was listening to an alternate universe version of Rush, which is still a compliment in my book. Maniac slows down a little too much after the two blistering openers "Max Overload" and "Maniac", with "Black Car" and "America" being noticeably less energetic. "Bottoms Up" also overstays its welcome just a bit, but any of these songs are far from being bad. All of the ingredients of great Speed Metal are here, from the tight and accurate 16th note shredding to the intense and heavy chugging of "Prince Of Hell And Fire", which turned out to be my favorite track in the end.

Although they're overlooked, Acid delivers a fantastic Speed Metal performance for its time with a unique and talented female vocalist at the front of well written Speed Metal riffs.