Review by Daniel for Axatak - Axatak (1985)
Melbourne's Axatak are often referred to as a key player in the early Australian metal scene that was still just in its development stage during the early-to-mid 1980's. Their four-piece lineup got together some time between 1981 & 1983 before quickly becoming a mainstay of the local live scene. During their time together, Axatak produced one demo, one full-length album (i.e. 1984's "Shock Rock") & this five-song E.P. which I actually never explored until earlier this decade. Axatak wouldn't be around for too long though, disbanding in 1988 off the back of frontman Andy Zouman having become a born-again Christian & subsequently producing a film about the influence of Satan on rock music.
Axatak are widely known for being heavily influenced by KISS. In fact, they started as a KISS cover band so it's no real surprise that their image involved makeup & theatricality. They could no doubt play a bit though, as can be seen from the performances on this E.P. which certainly has its moments. Guitarist's Pete Denero & John McCulloch know a thing or two about shreddy 1980's guitar solos & drummer Don Hailes keeps a tight rhythm throughout. The production job offers plenty of clarity but does tend to feel a little too separated with the high-end being a touch too prominent. It's the inconsistency of the song-writing that's the real issue here though as this is somewhat of a roller coaster ride in that regard. I quite like hard-rocking opener "Shock Rock" (which was also the title track of the band's debut album) & the more metallic "Let the Beast Run Wild" (my personal favourite) but the remaining three songs all fail to hit the mark, particularly the God-awful power ballad "You" which reeks of Motley Crue at their worst. Zouman's vocals are patchy at times & the weakest points of the release generally match up with his biggest failures.
Axatak's sound sits somewhere between the US glam metal that was booming at the time & the classic heavy metal that most of us know & love. You need to be a little patient if you go in searching for the metal side of that equation though as the first couple of tracks don't really present much in that respect with all of the genuine metal appearing during the middle & end of the release where you can expect to hear some aggressive bottom-string palm-muting & even a bit of tremolo-picking, reminding one of WASP more so than the band's idols KISS. I have to warn you that gang vocals are drawn upon quite regularly during the choruses which can be a deterrent for those with a weak stomach for the glammier side of Axatak's delivery, me included.
While this is certainly a better record than Kings Cross' dodgy "Gimme" E.P. from the previous year which traverses similar creative ground, I still wouldn't recommend "Axatak" as an early Australian metal release worth pursuing. It sounds more like a demo than it does a proper release as the songs deserve a glossier coat of paint, one which they likely would have received had the band resided in Los Angeles. I can easily understand how Axatak would have gone down really well in the Melbourne live scene of the time though as their sound & image would have translated very well to the stage. I'm just not terribly surprised that they didn't break out of the local live scene for wider success.
For fans of Bengal Tigers, Boss & WASP.