Killer - Fatal Attraction (1990)Release ID: 5069
The voice of the vocalist immediately leaps out at you from the opening of the full-on album starter Middle Ages, it's equal part Steve Souza as it is the more gruff aspects of Paul Di'Anno also. I can only assume there's two vocalists here as track two (the title track) seems to have a different style, more sung and rock-edged. This is the story of the album really, a mixture of galloping speed/heavy metal with Motörhead like rhythms thrown in for good measure.
The amateur vocals actually do suit the style of the album overall it has to be said. For all the comedy I find in them they suit the loose and bouncy song structures that do seem to indicate that whilst the writing process might not have been the most hybrid of systems much fun was certainly had by all during the recording of this album. The artwork belies a hint of seriousness that isn't actually present for the most part This is bashy heavy metal that is delivered with blunt force trauma to the listener as opposed to any calculated attack.
The other real standout part of the record is the guitar work with the dual attack working well to make the often average songs develop a whole new dimension showing skill that might not be as obvious on first spin/s. As mentioned, the drums just thump along in the background - perhaps a little too low in the mix actually - but you can hear their contribution to the metal frenzy on display for the majority of the album. The bass for the main part is lost though, either mixed in behind everything else or just overwhelmed entirely.
Pace wise, there's little let up. Tracks just charge on after each other like troops going into battle. The titles are in the main adversarial in naming convention, Steel Meets Steel, Highway Killers, Evil On The Road and the superbly named Kick On Your Ass all give a good indication of the mindset of this bunch of Belgian metalheads. Brute force aside though there's only so far that the relentless attitude can get you with an album like this. The token comedic value of the lyrics and vocals gets old real quick when every track is full of them and the attempt at a slower paced track, Lift Me Up, is just terrible and painfully shows the shortfalls of the vocal ability available on this record. The tits on the cover art are more attractive than most of the vocal content of the aforementioned attempt a ballad.
It still gets three stars just for the sheer bloody-minded determination to take a game plan, however basic, and stick with it for ten tracks. But this was something that they might have gotten away with at the early end of the eighties and this album was released in 1990 when most metal fans knew and expected much better.
