The Heavy Metal Thread
Kings Cross - "Gimme" E.P. (1984)
Kings Cross were another act that competed with the recently mentioned Surrender for the honour of having released the very first genuine metal release to come out of my birth city of Sydney. There's very little known about the timing of the two records though so I've had to take a guess as to which may have come earlier & have generally leant towards Surrender as their self-titled album was far more significant than Kings Cross' three-song effort. It was also miles more enjoyable too as the "Gimme" E.P. is a lacklustre affair that places all of its hopes & dreams on the back of brothers Darren "Jed" McCormack & Matt "Big Bird" McCormack whose virtuosic lead guitar skills are pretty incredible when compared with the overall package. They'd clearly been spending years kneeling at the altar of the late, great Randy Rhoads as there are some striking similarities in style. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to save "Gimme" from the second-hand store racks though as two of the three songs are completely disposable (read: garbage) with closer "Love Machine" being one of the worst metal tunes I can remember hearing, thanks largely to the completely out of key vocal effort of front man Mark White.
Kings Cross began life as New England in 1983 before changing their name shortly afterwards. The "Gimme" E.P. would be their only metal release with their 1988 debut album "Psychedelic World" coming after they'd relocated to Los Angeles in search of international acclaim & seeing them dropping the metal component in favour of a more psychedelic glam/hard rock approach. Kings Cross were built around the three McCormack brothers who would later go on to form seminal Sydney thrash metal band Massive Appendage with Jed & Shawn also ending up in Fester Fanatics later on. The early Kings Cross sound sits right in the middle between the LA glam metal one that was so big at the time & a more muscular heavy metal one. They tended to sound closest to Skid Row due to White's similarities in tone with Skid Row's legendary Sebastian Bach in my opinion. Unfortunately, his skill set is not even close to being able to match Bach's though & his failings are the main detractor from me being able to enjoy this release. I do quite like the glammiest of the three tracks in the catchy "Back Street Theatre" but it's sadly not enough to balance out the dire nature of the song-writing on the other two inclusions so I can't in good conscience encourage any of you to actively seek out "Gimme" which should reside solely in the annuls of Australian metal history for all eternity.
For fans of Twisted Sister, Skid Row & Motley Crue.
2/5
Tyrant - "Never Too Loud" E.P. (1984)
I originally became a part of the Australian metal scene as a fresh-faced teenager in the very early 1990’s. I’d been a fan of hard rock & metal for a good couple of years by that point & would religiously attend all of the international tours that were taking place at the time but it took me discovering legendary Sydney thrash metal establishment Mortal Sin in 1989 to realise that there was a local scene that could compete with the overseas acts I’d fallen in love with over the previous few years. But once I started to associate with older metalheads, I soon started to develop a list of mythical band names who had reportedly played strong roles in developing our beloved metal landscape here in the land down under. Amongst those names was a group that went by the very common metal moniker of Tyrant & who surprisingly hailed from the unlikely location of Tasmania i.e. the island state that’s positioned off the bottom south/east corner of Australia. I don’t think I ever got the opportunity to hear a Tyrant record at the time but I was always acutely aware that they were in some way important. It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve finally ventured back to check out Tyrant’s earliest work in the four-song “Never Too Loud” E.P. which was very successful on a local level & led to a string of important gigs across the country during the mid-1980’s.
Tyrant began life in the Tasmanian capital city of Hobart in March 1983, the project of the two Zarins brothers (guitarist Andy & drummer Robert) with their neighbour Neil “Steel” Wilson handling the vocals. They originally went by the much less cool name of Slyder & were more of an AOR act but the excitement of the NWOBHM & a very strong local pub rock scene soon saw them giving in to the lure of heavier sounds which triggered the requirement for a name change. Second guitarist Grant Wallace & bassist Paul Hassman would be added to the lineup & Tyrant quickly became a mainstay of the Hobart rock scene, leading to the recording of this debut four-song release in 1984, a record that would gain the band a fair bit of exposure across the southern part of Australia in particular & would ultimately lead to Tyrant relocating to Sydney to chase rock stardom in 1985.
“Never Too Loud” is a fairly basic release really. The four songs are all pretty traditional in both style & structure with the production job being a little rough & presenting the songs in more of a demo context than a glossy, commercially-accessible radio rock package. There’s not much information around on “Never Too Loud” but I’m gonna assume that it was a self-financed affair as that’s what it sounds like to my ears but the sound quality is still clear enough to give the song-writing the chance to dig its hooks in.
The early Tyrant sound has one foot in each of the two camps that inspired it i.e. the NWOBHM & the Oz rock scene. The song-writing is structured in your classic hard rock verse/chorus style with the rhythm section maintaining a controlled, thumping mid-paced rock rhythm while the dual guitar attack draws its influence from the flashier heavy metal scene that was arguably at its absolute peak following its successful infiltration into the American market over the previous year or two. This combination works really well for Tyrant too & it’s probably not terribly surprising that a sound like that was going to appeal to the Aussie market either given that it gave the boys a really crunchy heavy metal sound that would work brilliantly in a live setting but was still easily relatable for your average Australian.
The four songs included are all of a pretty reasonable quality, although they admittedly don’t break any new ground & are all structured in a very familiar way. You can easily hear the influence of Aussie pub legends AC/DC, Rose Tattoo & The Angels in the anthemic hard rock hooks with the major emphasis being on the catchy, uncomplicated chorus lines. The guitar work is much more metal than those acts usually attempted though, drawing inspiration from hard rock-inspired heavy metal acts like Saxon & Accept as well the the early-1980’s Judas Priest albums. Frontman Wilson generally seems to be regarded as the protagonist of the Tyrant sound, possessing a clean & easily intelligible tone that I find to be more serviceable & acceptable than I do charismatic & exhilarating. In fact, I think that Wilson’s vocal limitations place a cap on the heights that “Never Too Loud” had the potential to reach to be honest as the crunchy instrumentation is well executed & was very much in line with what was popular in the global scene at the time. I can see how Wilson might have been a different prospect in a live environment though as he can certainly hold a tune & the whole package seems to have been tailored specifically for live performance.
I enjoy all four of the songs included on the E.P. to varying degrees. It’s really only the highly memorable “Thunder & Steel” that possesses the class required to see me feeling like I may return to it in the future though. Opener “War of the Roses”, the title track & closer “Lambs to the Slaughter” all have their moments but Tyrant’s music is generally always going to live & die by the quality of the chorus hooks with the rest of the song-writing all being presented as the entrées to the chorus’ main courses. For a country that was as isolated from the rest of the world as Australia was at the time though, “Never Too Loud” served its purpose nicely & I can see why people may have gotten a little hot under the collar for this rough-&-ready, working-class heavy metal. I’m glad that I’ve given the E.P. a couple of revisits now too as it feels like a reasonably important release in the Aussie metal story to me, even if I don’t think it’s strong enough to warrant me returning to it again in the future.
For fans of Saxon, Accept & early-1980's Judas Priest.
3.5/5
Axatak - "Axatak" E.P. (1985)
Melbourne's Axatak are often referred to as a key player in the early Australian metal scene that was still just in its development stage during the early-to-mid 1980's. Their four-piece lineup got together some time between 1981 & 1983 before quickly becoming a mainstay of the local live scene. During their time together, Axatak produced one demo, one full-length album (i.e. 1984's "Shock Rock") & this five-song E.P. which I actually never explored until earlier this decade. Axatak wouldn't be around for too long though, disbanding in 1988 off the back of frontman Andy Zouman having become a born-again Christian & subsequently producing a film about the influence of Satan on rock music.
Axatak are widely known for being heavily influenced by KISS. In fact, they started as a KISS cover band so it's no real surprise that their image involved makeup & theatricality. They could no doubt play a bit though, as can be seen from the performances on this E.P. which certainly has its moments. Guitarist's Pete Denero & John McCulloch know a thing or two about shreddy 1980's guitar solos & drummer Don Hailes keeps a tight rhythm throughout. The production job offers plenty of clarity but does tend to feel a little too separated with the high-end being a touch too prominent. It's the inconsistency of the song-writing that's the real issue here though as this is somewhat of a roller coaster ride in that regard. I quite like hard-rocking opener "Shock Rock" (which was also the title track of the band's debut album) & the more metallic "Let the Beast Run Wild" (my personal favourite) but the remaining three songs all fail to hit the mark, particularly the God-awful power ballad "You" which reeks of Motley Crue at their worst. Zouman's vocals are patchy at times & the weakest points of the release generally match up with his biggest failures.
Axatak's sound sits somewhere between the US glam metal that was booming at the time & the classic heavy metal that most of us know & love. You need to be a little patient if you go in searching for the metal side of that equation though as the first couple of tracks don't really present much in that respect with all of the genuine metal appearing during the middle & end of the release where you can expect to hear some aggressive bottom-string palm-muting & even a bit of tremolo-picking, reminding one of WASP more so than the band's idols KISS. I have to warn you that gang vocals are drawn upon quite regularly during the choruses which can be a deterrent for those with a weak stomach for the glammier side of Axatak's delivery, me included.
While this is certainly a better record than Kings Cross' dodgy "Gimme" E.P. from the previous year which traverses similar creative ground, I still wouldn't recommend "Axatak" as an early Australian metal release worth pursuing. It sounds more like a demo than it does a proper release as the songs deserve a glossier coat of paint, one which they likely would have received had the band resided in Los Angeles. I can easily understand how Axatak would have gone down really well in the Melbourne live scene of the time though as their sound & image would have translated very well to the stage. I'm just not terribly surprised that they didn't break out of the local live scene for wider success.
For fans of Bengal Tigers, Boss & WASP.
3/5
Axatak wouldn't be around for too long though, disbanding in 1988 off the back of frontman Andy Zouman having become a born-again Christian & subsequently producing a film about the influence of Satan on rock music.
Axatak are widely known for being heavily influenced by KISS. In fact, they started as a KISS cover band so it's no real surprise that their image involved makeup & theatricality.
As soon as I saw that album cover I thought "cut-price KISS". Their frontman found Jesus and Gene Simmons found money, so there is that similarity between the bands too!
Fair Warning - "Love to Rock 'n Roll" E.P. (1985)
Melbourne four-piece Fair Warning played a short but valuable role in the early Australian metal story, shining brightly in the underground during the middle of the 1980's before unceremoniously disappearing along with so many others in a local scene that suffered from being so isolated from the rest of the world. Perhaps unsurprisingly given their moniker, Fair Warning began life as a Van Halen cover band in 1983, mainly in order to showcase the talents of guitarist Simon Hosford. They'd become a regular on the local live circuit but would only go on to produce a couple of demos/promos & this short four-song E.P. before calling it quits in 1987.
The "Love to Rock 'n Roll" E.P. is a familiar yet generally enjoyable listen. Much like Tasmania's Tyrant who were also floating around at the time, Fair Warning's sound sits right in the middle between the classic Aussie hard rock sound & a more shreddy 80's heavy metal one. It's fairly well produced for the time with all of the band members proving themselves to be quite capable musicians. The opening title track is the clear highlight & sees the boys having a crack at the classic AC/DC stadium hard rock sound with front man Bob Topping (S.A.S.) doing a great Brian Johnson impression & bass player Harold (Tyrus) maintaining a lumbering mid-paced thump throughout. "Too Late for Love" seems to be a more metal attempt at David Lee Roth-era Van Halen while up-tempo burner "All's Quiet" is the most metal of the four songs on offer & reeks of Judas Priest. The fairly dull "Pass This Way" is the only disappointment as it doesn't quite pull off the AC/DC feel they were going for.
I didn't get around to checking out "Love to Rock 'n Roll" until early this decade but, while I'm not gonna claim that I'd been missing out to any major extent, it's definitely worth a listen & compares fairly well with some of the international heavy rock outfits that were applying their trade on a much grander scale at the time.
For fans of AC/DC, Van Halen & Judas Priest.
3.5/5
Vice - "Daddy's Little Girl" E.P. (1985)
Oh dear! What have we here I hear you ask? Well, this Brisbane-based trio were one of the earliest metal bands to come of my adopted home state of Queensland back with 1985's awfully titled four-song "Daddy's Little Girl" E.P. being their first proper release. Vice weren't exactly a household name in this country so I didn't get around to checking this relatively unknown release out until earlier this decade &, even then, it was only out of sheer completism. I would suggest that the cover art alone would have scared off the majority of punters from this century but, you know what, someone's gotta do it so I recently decided to take the plunge by returning for a second helping, purely in the name of the glorious Aussie metal scene that I love so much.
The horribly titled "Daddy's Little Girl" was released on the completely insignificant Sundown Records label right in the middle of the 1980's. One look at that cover will probably tell you that Vice were at least loosely associated with the glam metal movement &, if that was the case, then you'd be correct because a good half of their sound fits that description pretty comfortably. However, they also possessed a much tougher heavy metal edge at times & opening track "Morpheus" will no doubt have you second guessing yourself with its powerful, down-tuned, bottom-string chug riff that's been pulled straight off of Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave". It's a great opener actually & I really enjoy it. It also sounds very different to other three tracks on the release. "Morpheus" is immediately followed by a very commercial sounding & misguided cover version of The Supremes "Stop ...in the Name of Love" which is certainly well performed & energetic but doesn't do a lot for me personally. The lengthier "Into the Night" sees things descending further with front man Peter Sharman's vocals struggling to find his feet amidst the glam/heavy metal instrumentation before the more than decent closer "Thriller Between the Sheets" rewards our patience with an up-tempo heavy metal feel that reminds me a lot of the punk-infused electricity of Iron Maiden's debut album. The variation in approaches across the four songs tells the clear story of a young band who were still trying to decide on what musical direction they should take so it can come across as unfocused but it does keep you on your toes nonetheless.
The production job on "Daddy's Little Girl" is more than acceptable for such an underground release of the time as it presents the band's strengths quite well. Peter Sharman would appear to be the main attraction with his big, masculine, powerful tone tending to make up for his occasional pitchiness with sheer charisma. The guitars of Dr Dave Warner (unfortunately not the former Australian opening batsman) are loud & proud while drummer Scott Allard would appear to be influenced just as much by hard rock as he is heavy metal, alternating between the two across the four songs. My enjoyment does tend to vary depending on how successful Sharman is at tackling each track though &, when he's in his element, Vice can be well worth hearing. I do think they were a significantly better heavy metal band than a glam metal one though so I've found myself enjoying the two more metallic inclusions a lot more than the two glammier ones. In fact, Vice don't really sound much like a glam metal act on the two songs that bookend this release which can only be a good thing in my opinion. Unfortunately, the two tracks that make up the middle of the E.P. do exist which has led to me deciding that "Daddy's Little Girl" probably isn't for me so I can't say that I'd recommend it to members who are looking for a hidden Aussie gem.
For fans of Axatak, Twisted Sister & early Kings Cross.
3/5