Review by Daniel for Iron Angel - Hellish Crossfire (1985)
With Helloween’s self-titled EP having made a considerable impact on the market in the first half of 1985, the door was ajar for other German speed metal acts to stake their claim & in doing so, help to build a unique & identifiable scene with somewhat of a trademark sound. Amongst the leaders of the charge were Hamburg's Iron Angel; a five-piece outfit that was formed back in 1980 when its members were still at school. Interestingly (& not overly surprisingly), Iron Angel originally went by the name of Metal Gods (a moniker that was borrowed from the classic Judas Priest track of the same name) & it wasn’t until 1983 that they changed their moniker after being inspired by a novel about a spirit hunter (presumably named “Iron Angel”). The band began their careers in recorded music by releasing two considerably lo-fi demo tapes before signing a recording contract with German metal label Steamhammer, who had previously released records like Brocas Helm’s “Into Battle” & Destruction’s “Sentence Of Death”. The resulting debut album, with the particularly metal title of “Hellish Crossfire”, would be recorded in Berlin in May 1985 & would include a large percentage of re-recorded material from the earlier demos.
The production was handled by Horst Muller who was responsible for producing Celtic Frost’s “Morbid Tales” EP as well as contributing to the recording & engineering of Destruction’s “Sentence Of Death” EP, Hellhammer’s “Apocalyptic Raids” EP & Running Wild’s “Gates To Purgatory” & “Branded & Exiled” albums, so you would imagine that Horst had a reasonable idea of what was required to produce a savage metal record. And he’s done a pretty good job at it here too with “Hellish Crossfire” being driven by an intense rhythm guitar sound that gives the whole affair a fairly brutal & underground feel; despite being a little low in the mix compared to the pounding drum kit. The guitar solos aren’t exactly top draw stuff though with very little virtuosity or melodic ambition on display.
The cheesy fantasy cover artwork is not really a terribly good reflection of the music that dominates the media inside. It certainly looks quite colourful & appealing & would likely be a good match for one of the more melodic European power metal releases, but I can’t say that it’s a very good match for the evil Satanic lyrical themes & raspy vocal approach of Iron Angel. In fact, this record is often linked to early black metal which would seem a particularly large stretch to my ears but it’s given even less justification by the pastel coloured imagery on this cover.
In my opinion, what we actually have here is a potent brand of speed metal that’s more than a little rough around the edges but makes up for any technical deficiencies with raw enthusiasm & unrelenting velocity. There are no complex song or riff structures or big tempo changes to found here but I don’t think the album ever becomes too samey because the songs still have their own identity despite being mainly focused on a pedal-to-the-metal approach. I think it’s fair to say that Iron Angel sit right in the sweet spot between Germany’s heavy/power bands like Running Wild, Accept, Helloween & Grave Digger & more aggressive thrash metal outfits like Slayer, Sodom & Destruction. There are definitely some sections that I would label as genuine thrash metal however this rarely equates to full songs with the sound of classic metal bands like Judas Priest & Accept never being too far away. I think Agent Steel are a lot closer to thrash than Iron Angel were & I think this has a lot to do with the simplicity of Iron Angel’s riffs which rely more on the vocals for the hooks than the thrash metal model which is a little more riff based. The same tools are certainly utilized on occasion though & there are several moments when I feel they sound like sped up versions of Venom or Hellhammer given the similarly simple approach those bands took. Kreator front man Mille Petrozza has been quoted as saying that Iron Angel were Germany’s worst thrash metal band but their best speed metal one so make of that what you will.
Front man Dirk Schroder takes a particularly raspy approach to his vocals & many people claim that his delivery was a bit of a career limiter for Iron Angel. I’m not sure I agree as I never find him too hard to stomach. I’d probably describe him as a combination of Accept’s Udo Dirkschneider, Helloween’s Kai Hansen & occasionally Mercyful Fate’s King Diamond but he never feels like he’s losing control & can easily handle the higher registers despite his aggressive style. Don’t expect his lyrics to be too sophisticated though as there a number of typical old-school European metal gems like “Wife Of The Devil” with its chorus of “She’s the devil’s wife. He f**ks her all night long.” Very deep, I know.
Iron Angel have split up & reformed a number of times over the years & are currently still active but subsequent releases saw them derailing their careers by taking on a more commercially accessible approach that was more in line with Accept’s more marketable ventures & it didn’t work out the way the band would have hoped. “Hellish Crossfire” isn’t a bad way to have your legacy remembered though as it’s a very entertaining & energetic listen that should appeal to fans of Judas Priest, Accept & Venom’s more speed metal oriented material as well as a few of you Teutonic thrashers out there. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that was comfortably the best example of the German speed metal sound to have been released to the time.