Artillery - Terror Squad (1987)^{Release ID: 1457}

Artillery were another band that I had never heard until I noticed how well it rated on RYM. Considering some of the reviews below labelled them Denmark's response to Metallica, I was keen to check it out. The first thing I needed to get past though is the horrendous cover, which I can partly excuse them for because the record label apparently lost the original artwork. The second thing I needed to get past is the vocals which are quite distracting. It's not that they are terrible, because most of the time they're quite decent. But when he starts shrieking, which he does often, it's all just a bit embarrassing really.

Which is a shame, cause the riffs on Terror Squad are great. The drumming is more than adequate, the guitar sound is rather chunky, and these guys are going all out to create an extremely heavy piece of thrash metal. If it wasn't for the vocalist stealing the show throughout, I'd enjoy this much more than I do. As it is, I can only see this album as a promising release that makes me want to check out their other stuff in hope of finding a true gem. Highlights include Terror Squad and At War with Science.

This album is decent, but isn't anywhere near the same league as the follow-up, By Inheritance. Go listen to that one first.

That said, you can definitely hear hints of the brilliance to come for Artillery. The title-track has some riffs that flat-out rock. "Therapy" and "At War With Science" are also highlights because of their ruthlessly technical yet memorable riffs and blazing solos. Some of the other tracks are more or less filler though. 

Besides the fact that the songs simply aren't as good, the muddy sound and awful artwork also prevent Terror Squad from reaching the heights of Artillery's best album. If you like what you hear on By Inheritance (and any metalhead must), THEN come listen to this one for some sloppy seconds.