Reviews list for Ostrogoth - Ecstasy and Danger (1984)

Now Belgium hadn’t exactly set the world on fire in regards to high quality metal releases up to 1984 with only Motorhead-inspired Antwerpen heavy metallers Killer & Brugge-based speed metal originators Acid having releasing anything terribly substantial to date so it would seem that the country was a little slow out of the blocks in regard to our most beloved genre. But things were about to change with the beautiful medieval town of Ghent giving birth to arguably the most celebrated exponent of the traditional heavy metal sound the country has ever produced in five-piece outfit Ostrogoth who would prove themselves to be a substantially more interesting heavy metal band than Killer & would give the well-regarded Acid a decent run for their money too.

Ostrogoth first formed in 1980 & immediately set about trying to emulate their idols; releasing a couple of demo tapes in 1981 & 1983 before finally producing their first proper studio release later in 1983 with the well-regarded four-song E.P. “Full Moon’s Eyes”. I’m afraid I’m yet to hear that particular record but it seems to receive some pretty positive reviews around the internet so I feel that I might need to change that at some point. The band’s moniker refers to a member of the eastern branch of the Goths; an East Germanic people who played an important role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire & conquered Italy in the 5th & 6th centuries AD. It’s a suitable enough title for a heavy metal band I guess but I’ve certainly heard better.

But all of this leads us to 1984 & Ostrogoth’s debut full-length studio album entitled “Ecstasy & Danger”; a release that would further cement the band’s claims to the title of Belgium’s elite heavy metal outfit. That’s not to say that you’re likely to hear anything dramatically different from the classic heavy metal sound we’d been hearing until now. In fact; there’s really very little to separate this album from the myriad of NWOBHM releases that had been flooding the market from a purely stylistic point of view. It’s very clear that Ostrogoth have taken their influences from the New Wave movement & the noticeably raw & unpolished production job gives this package a very similar feel too. There’s an authenticity to it that I strongly associate with the more underground British bands from the early 80’s & this inevitably gives Ostrogoth a lot of appeal for New Wave fans. But unlike many of those British bands, Ostrogoth are categorically a pure heavy metal band. Sure there’s a fair bit of hard rock about their guitar sound (too much so in fact), but you won’t hear any AC/DC worship going on in the band’s riffs even though they do seem to draw some influence from 70’s hard rock in their song structures & compositional style to an extent.

Despite the fact that the guitar sound is a fair bit thinner & a little softer than I’d like it to be & the overall package is a little rough around the edges, Ostrogoth offer us some reasonable compositional & harmonic complexity here. Perhaps a bit more than their technical skills will allow them to pull off at times but it’s certainly interesting. The musicianship isn’t exactly mind-blowing but each member performs their role admirably & it really is a case of the sum of the parts far exceeding the individual performances. Front man Marc de Brauwer is the real drawcard though as his voice possesses genuine power & I find it hard to shake the feeling that he would have made a truly great singer for a 70’s hard rock band with his David Coverdale style delivery seeming perfectly suited to such an undertaking. And thankfully the general consistency of Ostrogoth’s song-writing ensures that Marc’s talents are never wasted.

I really like “Ecstasy & Danger”. It’s got a good energy about it & possesses some of that live electricity & youthful exuberance that the better underground NWOBHM bands built their reputations on. For a point of reference, I’d suggest that Iron Maiden, Saxon & Grim Reaper are a pretty good start but there’s definitely a bit of 70’s Scorpions about them too. This is undeniably a couple of steps up from Killer’s “Ready To Kill” album & while Ostrogoth do sound a little tame in comparison to the wealth of more thrashy speed & power metal fueled releases coming from the Germans, Ostrogoth make a good fist of their chosen formula & even manage to step out into genuine speed metal territory with their most extreme outing “A Bitch Again”. Fans of NWOBHM-inspired heavy metal should find a fair bit to enjoy here.