Raven - All for One (1983)^{Release ID: 5850}

1983's "All For One" was the third album to come from Newcastle-based NWOBHM trio Raven who were well renowned for their unique brand of over-the-top & athletic heavy metal. But despite those attributes, I’ve been quite up-front about the fact that Raven’s first two albums didn’t do much for me in the past. The band’s technical skills & raw energy were beyond question however I’ve never enjoyed front man John Gallagher’s shrieking vocal delivery & have also found that the song-writing wasn’t quite strong enough to keep my interest.

Raven’s debut album “Rock Until You Drop” mixed ferocious speed with more traditional & accessible hard rocking numbers while the follow-up “Wiped Out” did away with all accessibility in favour of a full-on speed metal assault. Unfortunately both records suffered a little in the production department but for album number three Raven recruited Accept front man Udo Dirkschneider & former Accept guitarist Michael Wagener to man the mixing desk & the result is decidedly more positive.

It’s worth noting that Raven have lost none of their potency in the process as the raw electricity of their performances have been well captured. The guitar sound in particular is searing, incisive & unapologetically metallic. I mean Raven have always sounded like they just completely went for it on every song & that hasn’t changed here however they do sound like they’ve toned down the speed a bit in favour of a stronger focus on song-writing & it’s that element that makes “All For One” Raven’s best release to date for mine. But that’s not saying a lot really as I still only enjoy about 40% of this material. The rest simply doesn’t have a lot of appeal for me.

I still don’t have a lot of time for John’s vocal approach & the highly accomplished musicianship isn’t enough to make up for the lack of quality vocal hooks on the album. It’s not hard to recognize the influence that Raven had on the early speed & thrash metal scenes however I have to be honest with myself & say that Raven will probably never be a band that appeals to me personally. I find their music to be garish, unsightly & lacking in polish for the most part.