Heavy Metal Army - Heavy Metal Army 1 (1981)^{Release ID: 33843}

Another early Japanese metal release. This one a one-off album from an obscure band from Okinawa that were never heard of again. I haven't had much time for the other early Japanese releases I've heard (Bow Wow, Nokemono, Lazy, Loudness, etc.) & this one isn't much better but I'd hazard to suggest that it was probably the best metal-related release to come out of the country to the time. Heavy Metal Army's sound sits somewhere between heavy metal & hard rock & the vocals flip-flop between English & Japanese. The guitar solos of Shinki Sugama are excellent & are a real strength but the most noteworthy component of the Heavy Metal Army sound is the strong use of keyboards which draws comparisons with Deep Purple & Rainbow when it's done well but when it's not it tends to date the material pretty badly.

The tracklisting is quite varied, as is the quality level as this is a highly inconsistent record. It's strange though that they've elected to start the album with the three weakest tracks which got me offside from the get-go. For this reason it took me a couple of listens to get myself into a headspace to appreciate the rest of the album but once I did I found some pretty interesting stuff with the stripped-back progressive rock closer "Bird of Destiny" being the clear highlight. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to save "Heavy Metal Army 1" from obscurity & I can't see myself returning to it even though it definitely has its moments.

For fans of Deep Purple, Scorpions & Rainbow.