Daniel's Reviews

I have a fair amount of time for both of Witchfynde's duo of 1980 albums, “Give ‘Em Hell” & “Stagefright”. Particularly “Give ‘Em Hell” with it’s darker atmosphere, occult themes & more progressive & psychedelic musical direction. “Stagefright” saw Witchfynde diluting their sound with a more commercially accessible hard rock edge & that didn’t go down well with fans & was pretty poorly received overall. Perhaps too harshly in my opinion though as it certainly has its moments & the highlight tracks are strong enough to carry the weaker material for mine.

Unfortunately for the band though they experienced a major lineup change shortly afterwards with vocalist Steve Bridges electing to leave the band in order to give him the time to deal with some personal issues & this led to the recruitment of replacement Luther Beltz (which is not his real name it has to said). Luther possessed a vastly different voice to Bridges & Witchfynde’s “Cloak & Dagger” album highlights just how big an impact that would have on the band’s sound. Luther seems to be trying his level best to imitate Judas Priest’s Rob Halford a lot of the time. He clearly doesn’t possess the extraordinary vocal skills to pull that off but when he gets things right I find myself enjoying the better songs for similar reasons to those that I enjoy classic Priest. They’re catchy & unintimidating singalong metal tunes for the most part with Witchfynde’s musical direction seemingly having followed Luther’s vocal approach & sounding much more like the more commercially focused Judas Priest material of the time. Luther also throws in some King Diamond style falsetto screams here & there which have clearly been influenced by Mercyful Fate. Ironically I’ve long suspected that Mercyful Fate were influenced by early Witchfynde so things seem to have gone the full circle there. Unfortunately Luther doesn’t get things right often enough to make for a consistently engaging listen & his weaker performances inevitably line up with the weaker tracks on the album.

The progressive & psychedelic leanings of their early days have been completely pushed aside & there’s a stronger hard rock component to Witchfynde’s sound now. “Give ‘Em Hell” possessed the eerie atmosphere of Black Sabbath’s early albums but “Cloak & Dagger” sounds a lot like Sabbath’s more hard rock driven late 70’s material & I don’t consider that to be a good thing to be honest. The production is very much standard NWOBHM fare with a clear but somewhat dirty sound. It’s probably their best sounding record to date but I wouldn’t say that it’s a major step up. Having said all that there are a few great metal songs on offer & the more metal material is clearly stronger than the rockier & more radio-friendly tracks but there isn’t enough overall consistency to demand repeat listens. The end result is that this is the first Witchfynde record that I find to be a disappointment & I’d suggest giving it a miss.

I quite enjoyed Witchfynde’s debut album “Give 'Em Hell” from earlier in 1980. It was an interesting blend of progressive rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock & heavy metal with a dark atmosphere & a noticeable 70’s vibe to it. The follow-up, “Stagefright”, came just 8 months later & features a new bass player who puts in a very good display. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I think he’s one of the best things about the album to be honest. 

The more progressive & psychedelic elements of the debut have mostly been replaced with a more commercially accessible hard rock sound which occasionally borders on AOR. In fact, much like the debut, “Stagefright” isn’t really a metal record. There are really only two genuine heavy metal songs included & those two are the clear album highlights with Black Sabbath being the obvious influence. The Rush influence of Witchfynde's earlier work is still easily recognisable however this time it comes more from a song-writing perspective than from a technicality point of view. The production is unfortunately pretty muddy though with a fair whack of mid-range in the mix. 

Overall, I have a bit of time for “Stagefright” however it’s not quite as strong as “Give Ém Hell”. It suffers from a lack of focus at times with the tracklisting appearing to be a touch inconsistent. I prefer the more challenging progressive & psychedelic sounds of the debut over the more commercial material we get here but there's enough quality to warrant your time. We do get the brilliant title track which may be Witchfynde's crowning achievement with it's dark & doomy Sabbath atmosphere. I can hear a clear influence on Mercyful Fate in that song. 

1980’s “Give ‘Em Hell” was the first & most celebrated album from this seminal four-piece English heavy metal band from Mansfield but they actually formed way back in 1973 so it’s not surprising that Witchfynde had a pretty well-defined sound by this point, even though they offered plenty of variety in style from track to track. The album cover features some of the earliest Satanic imagery in metal music with the inclusion of the now obligatory goats head & pentagram while the lyrics also hint at the band’s fascinations with the more sinister side of life, although it has to be said that (unlike NWOBHM contemporaries like Angel Witch & Venom) Witchfynde’s sound isn’t always a good fit for the thematic concepts the band are depicting. 

Witchfynde are often sighted as an early influence on black metal although I think that’s stretching things a bit from a musical point of view. In fact, their sound doesn’t fit too comfortably under the NWOBHM banner either to be honest. Most of their musical influences are drawn from the 1970’s & they generally opt for a more restrained & controlled mid-paced delivery. They also possessed a darker atmosphere than the material really justified which has a fair bit to do with a thick, warm & moody production job that includes a fair amount of space.  I find it to be a little muffled to be honest, but it doesn’t see the instrumentation losing definition. This may be an unusual sound but it really stands out from the rest of the NWOBHM movement & is more memorable as a result.  

Witchfynde’s sound is best described as a blend of 70’s hard rock, heavy metal & progressive rock with touches of psychedelics here & there. Kinda like 70’s Black Sabbath meets the progressive hard rock of Rush. They’re at their best when they’re heading in more expansive & progressive directions with shifting time signatures & epic arrangements in my opinion. At times I can clearly hear the influence on bands like Mercyful Fate, Celtic Frost & Samael in the atmosphere & controlled aggression & if that’s not a feather in Witchfynde’s cap I don’t know what is. “Give ‘Em Hell” is definitely worth a listen for fans of the darker end of the NWOBHM.

I quite liked the self-titled debut album from early NWOBHM exponents Quartz. It was a fairly unfocused mixture of hard rock, heavy metal & progressive rock & even had a track that I’d label as folk but I liked almost all of the songs individually & it was well executed even though Tony Iommi’s production was poor. The band’s 1980 follow-up album “Stand Up & Fight” is a completely different prospect though. It sees Quartz going with a stripped down four-piece lineup following the departure of second guitarist/keyboardist Geoff Nichols who left to join a small-time underground band that no one’s ever heard of called Black Sabbath in 1979.

You won’t hear any expansive progressive sounds on “Stand Up & Fight”. This is a much more focused release which is directed entirely at the exciting new sound of the NWOBHM. There is still a definite 70’s hard rock influence (check out “Can’t Say No To You” which sounds very much like US hard rockers Boston to my ears) but I have no hesitation in claiming this as a genuine metal record & it’s hard to deny the commonly held opinion that the band had jumped on the New Wave bandwagon in an attempt to give their dwindling career prospects a bit of a boost. 

I’ve mentioned it before but I honestly can’t understand why a band like Quartz is included in the NWOBHM but a band like Motorhead are not. They both released their debut albums in 1977. Quartz were certainly older than the majority of bands that were around at the time (in their mid 30’s) & had paid more dues than most. You can hear that in the performances which are all very solid & the band clearly knew how to put together a tight & professional package by this stage. The production is a big step up from the debut & it gives some of the patchier song-writing a chance to drift by without incident. The bass sound is particularly strong & it really does drive this record. 

Unfortunately there are still a few tracks that come across as a bit flat but I generally like “Stand Up & Fight”. It’s Quartz’ most celebrated release however I have to admit that I rate the debut slightly ahead of it as I think the song-writing has a little more consistency. They’re both worth checking out though & “Stand Up & Fight” makes a fine example of the NWOBHM sound. Fans of Saxon, early Def Leppard or even US hard rockers Riot should find a bit of enjoyment here.

"Cycle Of Life", the 1980 debut album from Finnish heavy metallers Sarcofagus, included some very interesting concepts however the production & execution simply weren’t professional enough to pull it all together. The band couldn’t be accused of resting on their laurels though as a follow-up release would see the light of day only months later in December 1980.

“Cycle Of Life” sat somewhere between heavy metal, hard rock & progressive rock. In fact, I'm possibly the only punter you'll find that claimed it to be a legitimate progressive metal release. But “Envoy Of Death” is definitely more focused than its older sibling & it's also more metal. The riffs quite often remind me of “Sad Wings Of Destiny” period Judas Priest. There’s really only one song that is clearly not metal & it just so happens that progressive rocker “Wheels Of Destruction” is the album highlight too. The production job is again sub-par though & I can’t stress enough just how much this band needed an experienced producer.

Kimmo Kuusniemi's vocals were very poor on the debut but this time there’s a marked improvement while the lyrics are generally very dark & include subject matters such as death & suicide. Instrumentally, Kimmo's rhythm guitars sound pretty bassy & fuzzy & he regularly uses his wah pedal as a filter during his solos so as to ensure that the solos are as over the top as possible. The rhythm section are much more restrained than they were on the debut where they went down a much more expansive jazz/fusion route but there's still a pretty obvious progressive rock influence here. It may not be as pronounced as it was on the debut but that's not to say that there's not some interesting stuff going on such as the regular use of organ to great effect.

While it may not be as experimental as “Cycle Of Life”, Sarcofagus aren't completely done with experimentation. In fact, the final epic track "Black Contract" seems to have had a noticeable influence on the early 90's Scandinavian black metal scene. I have to admit that I slightly favour “Cycle Of Life” over this one but Sarcofagus weren’t really my thing to be honest.

Formed in Helsinki in 1977, Finnish heavy metallers Sarcofagus only released two records under that moniker before being forced to change their name due to the Finnish public finding the term to be offensive. The band's third album "Moottorilinnut" was subsequently released under the "Kimmo Kuusniemi Band" moniker in 1982 but it was the band's 1980 debut album "Cycle Of Life" that represented the very first noteworthy metal release to come out of Finland.

The producer clearly had no idea what they were doing as the production job is very unusual & more than a little sloppy. But in saying that, it certainly sounds different. The vocals aren’t very good but the instrumentation is exceptional; particularly the rhythm section which puts in a phenomenal display. The bass work is the highlight of the record for mine even though there also are some really nice jazz/fusion guitar solos on offer too. 

It's not hard to detect a really healthy amount of prog rock influence in the Sarcofagus' sound. In fact, I'd suggest that there's probably enough to claim "Cycle Of Life" as a legitimate progressive metal release although the B side has some more rocky material. It's ultimate downfall is a noticeable lack of focus however as it's a little too ambitious for its own good a lot of the time.

Sarcofagus certainly accomplished something pretty original here as the album doesn’t sound like anything that had been released before but the tracklisting is too inconsistent to make it worth returning to.

Having only formed in early 1980, Belgian heavy metallers Killer were incredibly quick to get out of the blocks with their debut studio album "Ready For Hell" being released later on the same year. This significantly underground first-up effort hasn't exactly gone on to international success however it does represent the first noteworthy metal release to come out of Belgium.

Killer contained a three-piece lineup with the guitarist & bassist sharing the vocal duties; bassist Spooky sporting a gruff Lemmy-style approach & guitarist Shorty offering a more accessible clean delivery. The production is very good for a debut release & the performances are all very solid too. A strong Motorhead influence is obvious throughout with hard rockin’ biker metal being the order of the day & the various band members sporting the mandatory handle-bar moustaches & leather biker gear to match the Motorhead theme. In fact, Killer were probably a little more obviously metal than Motorhead’s 70’s material though there’s definitely some blues & 50’s rock ‘n’ roll influence going on as well at times. I can hear a bit of KISS here & there too.

I like the sound & energy on display here but unfortunately the song-writing is fairly weak most of the time with only a few songs really appealing to me & I can’t say that I genuinely love any of them. The opening title track is probably the pick of the bunch & seems to be heavily influenced by Judas Priest’s “Rapid Fire” & Motorhead’s “Ace Of Spades”. Killer have gone on to release another six full-length albums to date but I can't say that I'm compelled to investigate them based on this initial effort which may not be horrible but is certainly a little flat.

Paralex were a little-known five-piece NWOBHM outfit that formed in Nottinghamshire, England in 1977. Endurance wasn't their strongest quality & fate would see them only having time to release a couple of short EPs over a two year period before their untimely demise. The first & most well regarded being 1980's "White Lightning". Paralex's main claim to fame was that Metallica wanted to cover the title track from “White Lightning” for their classic “The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-revisited” E.P. from 1987 but unfortunately negotiations broke down & it wasn’t to be. 

The production job on Paralex's recorded debut is very much of demo standard but it’s a good example of what was going on in the underground NWOBHM scene at the time with hundreds of garage bands releasing self-financed singles & E.P.s just like this one. The vocals really are very poor & aren’t up to the standard required for the band to reach the next level but strangely I could imagine this type of performance pricking up the ears of thrash metal vocalists like Paul Baloff (Exodus) or Sean Killeen (Vio-lence) because they both ended up taking similar approaches where they made up for their obvious lack of talent with aggression & attitude. 

Musically, Paralex play hard rock-influenced heavy metal with a nod towards early Iron Maiden. The guitar solos are the band's best weapon with some nice guitar harmonies being utilised at times. Unfortunately I struggle with the vocals & the guitar sound isn’t real flash either. The most metal song on the tracklisting, “Travelling Man”, seems to be heavily influenced by Judas Priest’s “Hell Bent For Leather” & it represents the only song worth listening to as the other two are pretty poor really. I have to admit that I struggle to see what Lars Ulrich would have seen in a track like “White Lightning” when there was so much higher quality NWOBHM material available at the time. Don't waste your time with this one.

Ozzy Osbourne's "Mr. Crowley: Recorded Live On Stage" E.P. was recorded in Southampton on 2nd October 1980 with the same lineup that recorded their debut album “Blizzard Of Ozz”. It features live versions of two of the classic album tracks in “Mr. Crowley” & “Suicide Solution” as well as a song that ended up being unique to this release entitled “You Said It All”. The story behind that song is that apparently the band intended to put out a remixed version of “Goodbye To Romance” as a single but were informed by their label that their plans had changed on the morning immediately after the remix was completed. The label apparently wanted a new song instead so the band basically wrote “You Said It All” at that day’s sound check while Ozzy slept on the drum riser. The plans to release it as a single were later scrapped for unknown reasons although I'd hazard to guess that it might simply be because it's not a very good song.

The title track “Mr. Crowley” is probably the highlight of the release which didn't surprise me as I’ve always enjoyed it more in a live environment than a studio one to be honest. That’s mainly due to the fact that the riff that comes in after the crushingly doomy power chords in the verse always sounds a bit too bouncy & tame on the album while it sounds a fair bit darker & more metal on most live recordings. The production on "Blizzard Of Ozz" was also a touch less heavy than it was during live shows as the rhythm guitars were backed off a little in the studio to allow more space for the keyboards whereas that’s not the case with these live renditions. 

The rhythm section takes somewhat of a back seat to Ozzy & Randy on this E.P. which is probably a good thing as those two really should be the focal points of the band. Randy’s guitar sound is loud & heavy & isn't terribly far removed from his sound on the album while Ozzy takes up a prominent position in the mix despite his performance being more than a little pitchy which was not an uncommon occurrence but is a bit of a turn-off here nonetheless. Randy’s performance is a little sloppy on occasions too with a few lazy replications of his album solos. Having said that though it’s hard to deny that I generally enjoy this release due to my long-time fondness of the two album tracks & my general love affair with Randy Rhoads. I’d recommend that any Ozzy fans out there should check it out despite it being a less than essential inclusion in Ozzy's prestigious back catalogue. 

The trio of albums Saxon released in 1980 & 1981 marked the pinnacle of their career & 1983’s underrated “Power & the Glory” record saw the fanfare dropping off a little due to the early hints of a more commercially focused sound that was consciously constructed to line up better with the expectations of US commercial rock radio. Personally, I didn’t think it was such a bad thing. I mean Saxon had always had just as much hard rock in their sound as they did heavy metal & the song-writing was still very strong. But unfortunately for the band the glossier presentation & sugary backing vocals tended to work against them by giving their sound a slightly poppier edge that tended to alienate a reasonable portion of the metal underground. And this brings us to Saxon’s sixth studio album in 1984’s “Crusader” which sees the band continuing on in a similar vein to “Power & the Glory” only with even less of the metal that had carried it’s predecessor.

For all intents & purposes “Crusader” looks & sounds like it will be a return to a truer form of heavy metal early on. The artwork shows a scene from an epic battle with the victors standing over the bodies of their enemies & holding aloft their flag. The first two tracks also push this theme with the short introductory piece “The Crusader Prelude” setting the scene with the sounds of battle & the particularly strong & heavy title track doing a stellar job at recreating the lumbering slower tempo gallop of Black Sabbath’s “Heaven & Hell” & Dio’s “Holy Diver”. I can only imagine that long-time fans who had been disappointed with “Power & the Glory” would have been feeling very good about the world after their first listen to those two tracks. But then things change very quickly & they never really recover as the rest of the tracklisting is predominantly focused on Van Halen style hard rock with a strong emphasis on radio play. In fact, the only other track that pushes up into legitimate heavy metal territory is the cover version of The Sweet’s “Set Me Free” & I can’t say that I enjoy it much. But having said that, please don’t think that I’m shit-canning the rest of the material because I actually quite enjoy “Crusader”. For all of the contrived commercialism on display it’s hard to deny that Saxon are a damn fine group of musicians & song-writers & I struggle not to enjoy a good half of the material here.

When you read track titles like “Just Let Me Rock”, Bad Boys (Like To Rock ‘n’ Roll)” & “Rock City” I guess we shouldn’t really have been surprised by what we were hearing coming from the speakers but to be fair Saxon always had these sort of songs. It’s just that they make up a greater proportion of the album here. And of course, there are a couple of cheesier ballads included too but they’re pretty well done & they represent somewhat of a guilty pleasure for me as I can’t resist singing along to their choruses. For all of Saxon’s efforts, the production job isn’t as glossy & clean as your typical US glam metal fodder & maintains some of that signature NWOBHM grit. It’s hard to say whether that was always the intention or not. I’d probably suggest not but the guitar solos of Graham Oliver & Paul Quinn sound blazing throughout & that’s a real drawcard for me. This is amongst the pairs very best performances in that respect while front man Bif Byford was simply born to be a rock star; at least from a purely sonic point of view. So ultimately, I find “Crusader” to offer more than it’s given credit for. Sure it’s clearly the weakest Saxon album since their 1979 self-titled debut & the Van Halen worship is blaringly obvious at times but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t offer anything for the more discerning & patient metal fans out there. I’d suggest giving it a listen with an open mind & drawing you own opinion.

Most serious metal fans would be well aware of the impact that NWOBHM heavy-weights Saxon had made on the global metal scene by 1983. They’d released four studio albums in just four years (at least two of which are regarded as genuine classics of the NWOBHM) plus an excellent live album in 1982’s “The Eagle Has Landed: Live” so expectations must have been extremely high for everyone involved with the band when it came time to record their fifth studio album; 1983’s “Power & The Glory”.

I don’t think anyone would have expected the band to move dramatically from their tried & tested sound as they’d shown very little tendency to do that since the progressive leanings of their debut with only subtle changes to their sound & their appeal marketed primarily off the back of their quality song-writing & performances. While Saxon had achieved remarkable success around the world though there was one market that they’d still yet to crack & that was the USA. Listening back now I can imagine that Saxon & their management must really have been genuinely frustrated that they’d missed the boat there despite releasing so much high quality material & this brings us to a topic that will continue to raise it’s head over the next year or so; the apparent demise of the NWOBHM movement.

In a nut shell 1983 would be the final year for the New Wave. The cause of its eventual dissipation? The commercial ambition of a large portion of it’s more senior players. In a short period we would see so many of the New Wave’s greatest bands releasing albums that were drastically less extreme & decidedly less metal than the fast, energetic hard rock & heavy metal of their early releases. And sadly…. only Def Leppard would have any major success in this undertaking. So what has this got to do with Saxon? Well unfortunately Saxon would be one of the protagonists to fall into this trap & “Power & The Glory” is the record where critics claim they can start to hear the band taking that cheesier direction & as a result it’s widely regarded as a step down from the band’s previous three albums. Now whether this is a fair assessment of the record’s merits is quite a point of contention. Personally I’ve always been able to hear the influence of commercial hard rock bands like Van Halen in Saxon’s sound & I honestly don’t think there’s any more of that on “Power & The Glory” than there was before other than an increase in the more commercially directed backing vocals. But what there’s less of is the higher tempo metal numbers that the NWOBHM cut its teeth on & I categorically believe this to be the reason that “Power & The Glory” is less highly praised than albums like “Strong Arm Of The Law” or “Denim & Leather”. Don’t get me wrong. The reaction to “Power & The Glory” was still largely positive. It just wasn’t as gushing as it had been previously & I suspect the timing of the release was a significant factor in this given that bands like Venom, Mercyful Fate, Metallica & Sodom were already pushing the genre into a more extreme place than it had ever gone before. Perhaps Saxon just sounded fairly tame in comparison? Personally though I don’t mind the fact the this record is less metal than Saxon’s last couple of albums at all. To be honest I didn’t think Saxon’s first two albums were genuine metal releases anyway! To me it all comes down to the quality of the song-writing & musicianship as well as the strength of the production. I don’t care that there are only a few faster metal numbers on this album because the song-writing is stronger than ever before & that includes the ballads & moodier material.

New drummer Nigel Glockler does an excellent job at filling the shoes of former drummer Pete Gill. In fact his performance is one of the real highlights here along with the flashy dual guitar solos of Paul Quinn & Graham Oliver. The production is often unfairly criticized but I can assure that there’s very little wrong with it. The slower numbers are just as good the faster ones & there’s only one real failure across the tracklisting in the obvious live audience gee-up song “This Town Rocks”. The most iconic song on the record in the opening title tune “Power & The Glory” & Saxon have made a habit of picking their album titles from the song with the most anthemic & hook-driven chorus & this one is no exception.

If you listen to "Metal Academy" podcast then you'll likely know that I absolutely call ‘em like I see ‘em & to be fair this will be one of my more controversial calls but I can honestly say that “Power & The Glory” just edges out “Strong Arm Of The Law” as my favourite Saxon album to the time. That’s right people! Shall I give you all a few moments to compose yourselves? …………..OK……. I guess I’d just like everyone to go into this album with an open mind because there are far too many metal purists out there that think less metal equals less quality & that’s just missing the point entirely.

By 1982, Saxon were riding high at the pinnacle of the NWOBHM juggernaut along with contemporaries Iron Maiden & Def Leppard. They’d released three critically & commercially acclaimed studio albums in just two years & their live shows were regarded as being amongst the hottest tickets in town. So predictably it would seem that now was the perfect time for the Saxon’s record label to cash in with a live album containing most of the band’s most popular songs. And it’s hard to argue with that way of thinking when you hear “The Eagle Has Landed: Live”.

What we have here is a testament to a band that’s right on top of their game. The production is excellent with the guitars sounding bright & incisive & the rhythm section maintaining a full & powerful backbone throughout. Bif Byford’s vocals soar overhead & his performance is the epitome of professionalism. He barely puts a foot wrong & reinforces my opinion that he's one of the all-time great heavy metal front men. The guitar solos sound really exciting & the virtuosity on display is undeniable. It’s worth noting that long-time drummer Pete Gill had only recently left the band after injuring his hand but his very fresh replacement Nigel Glockler does an excellent job here given the short time he’d had to prepare.

The tracklisting has been the source of much debate online but I don’t think you can please everyone when Saxon has such a strong back-catalogue of material to choose from. Live favourite “Princess Of The Night” has never sounded better than it does here even though I still struggle with it a bit. It certainly sounds a bit more metal here which can only be positive though. “20,000 Feet” still doesn’t do a lot for me either but the rest of the album is of a very high quality & includes a procession of  metal anthems with “Heavy Metal Thunder” & the immense closer “Machine Gun” being my personal favourites. It’s notable that the debut self-titled album has been completely overlooked which probably shouldn’t be such a surprise as it’s not nearly as popular as the rest of Saxon’s back-catalogue. There are some pretty solid songs on there though so I think it could have been catered for with a token track here or there. Anyway, of the ten tracks on offer we have four from 1980’s “Wheels Of Steel” record & three each from 1980’s “Strong Arm Of The Law” & 1981’s “Denim & Leather”. Probably the most notable exclusions for me are “Dallas 1 PM” from “Strong Arm Of The Law” & the title track from “Denim & Leather” which are real favourites of mine & I would have thought would have been deserving of inclusion but it’s not a major concern because “The Eagle Has Landed: Live” is still a very fine example of the heavy metal live album & it’s my probably favourite Saxon album to that time if I’m honest.

London-based four-piece NWOBHM band Samson had been having a pretty decent time of things with both 1980’s “Head On” & 1981’s “Shock Tactics” leaving a positive impression on me. However life was about to get more complicated for Samson with legendary front man Bruce Dickinson moving on to an amazingly successful career with Iron Maiden & iconic drummer Barry “Thunderstick” Purkis also leaving due to apparent artistic differences with band leader Paul Samson. So Samson was certainly facing an up-hill battle to maintain the loyal fan base they’d worked so hard for. But 1982’s “Before The Storm” album would prove that there was still life in the old dog yet. It sees guitarist Samson & original bassist Chris Aylmer being joined by blues rock singer Nicky Moore & drummer Pete Jupp for a record that sounds as professional as any they’d released to date.

The production’s directed towards more of a hard rock sound than a metal one & it reminds me heavily of classic AC/DC with a very similar guitar crunch. Dickinson & Thunderstick had been the main focal points of the previous two albums but surprisingly the two newcomers here prove themselves to be quite capable of filling their boots. Nicky Moore has a decidedly more bluesy style than Dickinson & I’d hazard to guess that this has had an impact on the musical direction that Samson have taken here because it’s certainly more bluesy than the last couple of records. Although perhaps that might have been the reason for Thunderstick’s departure too I guess. He may not have been too keen on this more commercially viable sound. I’m not sure. Anyway.. Nicky reminds me quite a bit of David Coverdale from Whitesnake with his powerful lower register delivery & he proves himself to be a front man to be reckoned with in my opinion. Pete Jupp’s drumming is really very interesting & enjoyable too although it has to be said that his occasional use of double-kick is poor. Paul Samson has never really stood out as a metal guitarist to my ears. He’s always seemed much more comfortable within the context of a hard rock framework & you can definitely hear that on “Before The Storm”. In fact, Samson seem really quite at home with a more traditional hard rock sound & there’s really only two legitimate metal songs of the nine on offer here. That’s not a problem though as a good two-thirds of the album are pretty solid examples of that sound.

"Before The Storm" may not be quite as consistent as “Shock Tactics” & it doesn’t have the same number of highlights either but it is a pretty good effort under the circumstances. It’s by no means the underwhelming experience that many fans might have been expecting following the departure of two such talented & charismatic band members & fans of Deep Purple, Whitesnake & particularly AC/DC will definitely find some enjoyment here. Sadly though “Before The Storm” would prove to be Samson’s last noteworthy release with a string of four subsequent albums failing to make much of an impression.

1980’s “Head On” album was a major step up for London NWOBHM band Samson following a fairly uneventful beginning to their recording career. 1979’s “Survivors” may have been one of the earliest releases in the New Wave however it wasn’t exactly brimming full of quality either. In fact, I’ve never had much time for it & it certainly didn’t have much to do with metal. But the recruitment of a budding young singer by the name of Bruce Bruce (more commonly known as Bruce Dickinson, the legendary front man from Iron Maiden’s golden era) signaled a major change in fortunes for Samson & the future looked very bright. “Head On” also showcased a much more metal sound than the debut & I quite enjoyed it overall. 

The follow-up “Shock Tactics” was released almost a year later & it features the same four-piece lineup as “Head On”. This time though Samson recruited experienced sound man Tony Platt to produce the record which was a major plus for the band. Tony had previously cut his teeth engineering records from the likes of the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, AC/DC, Bob Marley & Foreigner so he would surely add some much needed professionalism to the sessions. And you can certainly tell although the production still isn’t perfect. The rhythm guitars have a definite hint of the AC/DC crunch that Platt helped achieve on albums like “Highway To Hell” & “Black In Black” & there’s a nice live warmth to the recording however I do think that the overall mix lacks a little bit of brightness.

From a musical point of view I’m not sure that “Shock Tactics” is a metal record. There are three songs that are clearly metal tracks but at least five of the other six songs fit much more comfortably under the hard rock tag in my opinion. There’s quite a bit of variety on display just like Samson’s previous material with a fair bit of bluesy content scattered across the tracklisting in particular. Bruce’s performance is the main focal point of course, even if he’s not quite as brilliant as he would be on Maiden’s classic material. In fact I’m led to believe that Bruce’s performance on the closing track on “Shock Tactics” (the gentle ballad entitled “Communion”) is what encouraged Steve Harris to pursue Dickinson for Paul Dianno’s empty vocal position in Iron Maiden. Barry “Thunderstick” Purkis puts in another entertaining display behind the kit while guitarist & band leader Paul Samson does what he does best. His style is certainly not clean & clinical. He relies much more on just sounding cool than anything else. You can detect plenty of mistakes in his playing & nothing sounds overly polished. He’s got more of a dirty live feel & I quite enjoy the honesty & authenticity of his playing.

“Shock Tactics” has some great moments with a few really solid highlight tracks topped off by a classic NWOBHM opener. Unfortunately it’s not all gold here though with the tracklisting tainted by a couple of duds too. “Nice Girl” is a real problem for me & it’s that bad that it probably effects my overall opinion of the record. It’s definitely one of the reasons that I prefer “Head On” to this album but “Shock Tactics” is not that far behind it to be honest. If you’re a fan of the NWOBHM or hard rock & heavy metal in general then I’d be surprised if you don’t find some enjoyment in “Shock Tactics”. It’s a pretty good record as far as I’m concerned with the amazing opening track “Riding With The Angels” being the clear highlight. It’s actually a cover version of a track from English AOR performer Russ Ballard’s 1980 album “Barnet Dogs” only it’s been thoroughly metallicized & is a much better version than the original. That’s hardly surprising though because you won’t find a better singer than Bruce Dickinson for delivering it’s anthemic & highly addictive chorus. If you like Bruce’s solo material then this song sounds like it could have been pulled straight off one of those records.

Samson’s 1979 debut album “Survivors” didn’t exactly set the world on fire. But the band didn’t give up & recruited a new vocalist in Bruce Bruce (aka future Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson) for 1980’s follow-up album “Head On” which saw them sporting a brand new four-piece lineup. "Head On" also features quite an iconic NWOBHM album cover featuring drummer Thunderstick’s leather-clad stage persona wearing a gimp mask & holding a large scythe. Thunderstick’s drumming is probably the highlight performance for me & I’m not surprised that Iron Maiden tried to get him back into the fold around this time.

Apparently most of this material was written in the first six days of Bruce Bruce's tenure in the band & he makes a huge difference to the overall professionalism & marketability of Samson. Bruce's natural talent & charisma provides just the boost that the band had been crying out for & his more epic delivery makes some of these songs sound genuinely anthemic. His performance certainly isn’t perfect though & I think it would be fair to say that he doesn’t sound completely comfortable with the material at times.  Despite this, there are some wonderfully memorable choruses here along with some pretty great song-writing & a fair amount of variety in style. Unfortunately there are also a few obvious duds that let the rest of the record down a bit.

Samson’s sound never completely indulges itself in heavy metal. Hard rock is always there in equal portions with the likes of Deep Purple being an obvious influence. Especially in Bruce’s vocal delivery which is quite reminiscent of Ian Gillan at times. The production isn’t ideal with the drum sound lacking bass & being far too high in the mix. The guitar sound is also very thin. 

"Head On" is a good couple of steps up from the debut & is definitely worth checking out for fans of Iron Maiden & the NWOBHM in general. It’s not a classic release for the movement as some people seem to think though.

German heavy metal stalwarts Accept released their third album “Breaker” in March 1981, featuring the same lineup as the band’s first two records but offering a noticeable step up in quality. 1979’s self-titled debut & 1980’s sophomore effort “I’m A Rebel” both showed promising signs but lacked the consistency required to propel Accept into the big league. They also showcased a band that were easily led by their record label’s commercial aspirations with both albums including some pretty cheesy tracks scattered across their tracklistings. The various band members have been open about the fact that they made a conscious decision to prevent that from happening with “Breaker” & the result is the first Accept album to really grab my attention. That’s not to say that there aren’t any commercially focused tracks because there certainly are but it’s a more consistent record & the metal element is noticeably stronger than before, even though there are a couple of straight-up hard rockers included. The AC/DC influence is still very evident on “Breaker” (just check out the complete rip-off of “You Shook Me All Night Long” in album low point “Midnight Rider” for example) however there’s an obvious Judas Priest influence that’s crept into Accept’s sound & that can only be a good thing.   

The result was a breakthrough release. Not only for Accept but for the European metal scene in general. Finally the world had a European metal record that could compete on the world stage. Personally, I quite like "Breaker" however it's far from a classic in my opinion. There aren't any genuine metal classics on show & there are a couple of weaker songs that are hard to ignore. The production is very good though. As are the guitar solos & we’d finally see Udo's vocal delivery fully transitioned into the gruff beast that he would become known as from here on in. Bassist Peter Baltes once again handles the mike duties on a couple of songs & continues to prove that he's a genuine vocal talent in his own right too.  The title track is notable for being a genuine early speed metal tune. It's interesting that Accept’s later material is often labelled as the root of the speed metal subgenre however they were already doing it at this stage, only perhaps not as consistently. Opening track “Starlight” is the album highlight in my opinion as it really sets the tone for a strong opening to the album that features five genuine metal tunes in a row.

Overall, “Breaker” won’t disappoint fans of European heavy metal. It's an important piece of the puzzle that saw Accept ascending to a career peak with their next record "Restless & Wild" & to be honest I rate it slightly more highly than some of Accept’s more widely celebrated later releases like “Balls To The Wall” & “Metal Heart”. 

Nine months after the release of their debut self-titled record, German heavy metallers Accept returned to the studio to record the follow-up album, “I’m A Rebel”, which would hit the shelves in June 1980. Much like its predecessor, “I’m A Rebel” sits somewhere between heavy metal & traditional 70’s hard rock however it features a different sound to the debut with the classic Accept guitar crunch coming to the fore & Udo’s vocals being transformed into the more aggressive shriek he became renowned for on a few songs. That being said, there is definitely a more blatantly commercial edge to some of the material that we didn’t hear as much on “Accept” & the production is a step up from its older sibling too. 

As with the debut, bassist Peter Baltes performs the vocals on a couple of tracks & proves himself to be a very solid singer in his own right while the drumming seems to have taken on a more minimal approach similar to the one Judas Priest took on “British Steel”. Accept wear their influences on their sleeve here with AC/DC, Van Halen, Scorpions, KISS & Judas Priest all making an appearance.  

There are a few really great songs to be found on “I’m A Rebel” & you can certainly hear those big anthemic choruses that were a staple of the classic Accept armory however they aren’t enough to save the album from the weaker inclusions with the horrible “I Wanna Be A Hero” being the clear low point. It was an obvious attempt to clone the disco sound of KISS’s “I Was Made For Loving You” & it failed dismally. I read somewhere that the title track was actually written for AC/DC but they rejected it & Accept ended up taking it on here & it sounds pretty much exactly like something AC/DC would do to be honest. 

I’d give “I’m A Rebel” a miss unless you’re a really big fan of Accept. It’s certainly a step up from the debut but it’s glaringly obvious that the band have succumbed to record label & producer pressure by including a fair chunk of material that they might not have felt altogether comfortable with. In fact, the various band members has been fairly open about this fact in the media over the years.

I quite enjoy the down-tuned early Immolation death metal meets Darkthrone black metal feel of this album. It's got a dark & evil atmosphere & the production really reminds me of my tape-trading days in the late 80s/early 90s. Proscriptor's drumming is probably the highlight for me. I'm not too keen on the female vocal stuff & the keyboards are very primitive but I dig the raw brutality of this record. It may be my favourite Absu release actually.

Heavy Load's 1978 debut album “Full Speed At High Level” was one that I had a real problem with. The vocal performance was terrible & the cheesiness of the music was something that left me cringing for most of the regrettable experience. But it was a full four years before they'd would get around to releasing their second self-financed effort “Death Or Glory”, so let’s take a look at whether that time was well spent.

Firstly, the production is again pretty raw with the vocals being too loud in the mix & the guitar sound being pretty tinny although this is not a deal breaker by any measure as the album is still quite listenable. The musicianship is generally very good with all of the instrumentalists proving to be quite accomplished for the time. The guitar harmonies in particular are very well executed. Guitarist & front man Ragne Wahlquist’s vocal perform is massively improved from the debut where he couldn’t sing to save his life. This time he offers us quite a unique style of delivery for a heavy metal band. In fact, I’m not entirely sure he’s all that well suited to metal to be honest. He’d sound far more at home in front of a late 70’s/early 80’s punk rock band in my opinion but he has his moments on the stronger tracks here.

Stylistically this an unashamedly metal focused release with less of the 70’s hard rock & progressive rock influences we heard on “Full Speed At High Level”. The artwork features a sword-bearing warrior in battle with a polar bear in the snow. It’s metal as fuck to be honest & it’s a good indicator of what you can expect to hear. But the metal on display isn’t your generic NWOBHM affair. Heavy Load possess a far more epic & melodic sound with a strong emphasis on overblown backing vocals & singalong hooks. As with the debut, this is cheesy as hell & I struggle with it quite a bit. When Heavy Load get it right they can produce some pretty solid material & songs like “Daybreak Ecstasy” & “The Guitar Is My Sword” are strong examples of this. But the rest of the album leaves me feeling more than a little alienated as it’s just so far from my metal comfort zone. It’s very clear that Heavy Load were the root of the European power metal sound though. No one else was doing this sound back then & I’d be very surprised if it had no influence on the power metal scene that shares so many of their traits. Even more extreme European metal bands like Bathory possess some of the same characteristics. Just look at the lyrical content & epic feel of albums like “Hammerheart” & “Twilight Of The Gods” for example. Heavy Load were certainly writing odes to their Viking heritage much earlier than anyone else but we can only guess as to their direct influence given that their albums were so hard to find even back in the day.

“Death Or Glory” is unquestionably a step up from Heavy Load’s debut & shows improvement in most areas but I still find a really difficult listen due to the blatant cheesiness of it all. I’ve always found the more melodic European metal a challenge & Heavy Load unashamedly push a sound that directly clashes with my ideals of what metal should be so I was never going to find them an easy listen. This is a real shame as there are some very promising signs here & there. Particularly in album closer “Daybreak Ecstasy” which is not only the clear album highlight but I suspect that it was also a huge influence on the early Swedish melodic death metal movement with its beautifully complex harmonized guitar arrangements. In fact, I find it very hard to believe that bands like Dark Tranquillity & At The Gates weren’t familiar with the Heavy Load records based on the evidence presented in that track.

Poorly written & poorly performed black metal with poor production. Poor!

The “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers” E.P. was released in November 1980 by Big Beat Records; an extension of Chiswick Records who had access to the Motorhead back catalogue at the time. It really was an obvious attempt to cash in on the massive success of Motorhead’s “Ace Of Spades” single which was doing big business in late 1980 & the E.P. is completely made up of unreleased recordings from the sessions for Motorhead’s 1977 self-titled debut album. In many cases these sort of cash-in attempts by old record labels go down very poorly with the bands in question however legendary Motorhead frontman Lemmy Killmeister has openly stated that if it wasn’t for Ted Carroll from Chiswick Records there wouldn’t be any Motorhead so he can do what he wants with the old catalogue. 

The four-song affair includes a fresh version of the title track from Motorhead’s early “On Parole” album, a couple of cover versions of tracks from ZZ Top & John Mayall & The Blues Breakers & a short instrumental piece simply called “Instro”. The production is obviously very similar to Motorhead’s self-titled album given that these recordings came from the same sessions. It’s raw, dirty & underproduced but won’t stop you from enjoying the music if you’re partial to this particular brand of dirty blues-driven hard rock. I have to admit that I really hate the pure blues rock of the title track as I find Lemmy & Fast Eddie Clarke’s lazy dual vocal delivery to be very difficult to tolerate. “On Parole” was never a song that floated my boat too much in the first place but I find this version to be a little more appealing than the one found on the album of the same name. It’s still not something that I really enjoy but the ska punk-influenced pub rock version found on this E.P. seems to have a little more life & energy than the original did. Both of the tracks on the B side have a definite psychedelic edge to them. Bluesy hard rocker “I’m Your Witch Doctor” doesn’t do much for me but the short instrumental piece “Instro” is really very entertaining & I’m disappointed that it wasn’t expanded on further for inclusion on the Motorhead debut given that it’s only two & a half minutes long & of a higher quality than I remember most of the self-titled album being. It’s got a bluesy psychedelic hard rock feel that I really enjoy. 

Overall, I can’t see that “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers” offers much to anyone that isn’t a die-hard Motorhead fan but perhaps that was entirely who it was marketed to.

I wasn’t completely sold on Riot’s early works. But their third album, 1981’s legendary “Fire Down Under”, had finally grabbed my interest & this led to me really enjoying their more bluesy & heavily underrated follow-up album “Restless Breed” from the following year. “Restless Breed” was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me as most Riot fans seem to agree that the Guy Speranza-fronted albums represent the pinnacle of Riot’s career with Rhett Forester’s influence seeing the band steering towards a more accessible & less energetic direction that wasn’t to everyone’s taste. But I don’t shy away from the big calls so it’s without fear that I make the bold claim that I rate the Forrester era more highly than the Speranza one.  

However Rhett’s erratic behavior on the “Restless Breed” tour & a changing of the guard at Riot’s record label Elektra saw the band’s fifth album, 1983’s “Born In America”, being self-financed by producer Steve Loeb. It would see Riot steering the ship back towards a heavy metal direction after Rhett’s arrival had seen them catering for his style with a bluesy hard rock sound that better suited his skill sets on “Restless Breed”. To be honest, I felt that the bluesier direction sounded pretty cool & suited the band quite well. I’ve always favoured Riot’s more hard rockin’ material though & I enjoyed the added atmosphere, even if the production wasn’t as strong as it could have been. And they haven’t quite got the production right again here on “Born In America” but it’s certainly improved.  

This is definitely a more aggressive record than “Restless Breed” but I wouldn’t say that it’s overly ambitious. I mean the opening title cut may be one of the better tracks but it’s a clear take on the tried & true AC/DC stadium hard rock anthem. Closer “Promised Land” is also pretty clearly paying homage to Led Zeppelin & most of the metal material could be classed as Judas Priest worship but it’s the quality of the song-writing & performances that allow Riot to still offer the listener something interesting.  

No matter what your opinions on the Rhett Forrester era albums it’s hard to deny his talent. He was a great front man & “Born In America” sees him sitting more comfortably within the context of the band after “Restless Breed” saw him occasionally trying too hard & being guilty of over-singing. There are plenty of quality metal riffs on display & some great guitar work. The solos are high quality as usual & I really enjoy the more expansive lead sections. They make for some of the more exciting parts of the album. The tracklisting is reasonably consistent with only a couple of blemishes. Second track “You Burn In Me” being the most obvious of them but why they thought covering Cliff Richard’s pop hit “Devil Woman” would be a good idea is anyone’s guess. Thankfully a good half of the album is of a very high standard & this well & truly covers the weaker moments.  

But it wouldn’t be a Riot album without one of the most ghastly album covers in metal history now, would it? And this one is outrageously bad with Riot’s awful seal mascot returning once more but I have to admit that it only works to further enhance my enjoyment of the album in all honesty. Those that were surprised by my adoration for “Restless Breed” will likely be equally surprised by my affection for “Born In America” as I place it just behind “Restless Breed” as my second favourite Riot album to the time. I just like this more mature & less glossy Riot sound over the faster & more energetic Speranza material. Unfortunately though, this would be the final Riot album that Rhett Forrester, guitarist Rick Ventura, bassist Kip Lemming & drummer Sandy Slavin would appear on as Riot disintegrated shortly after the release of “Born In America”. Sadly, interest in the band had waned following the loss of Speranza & the backing of their label. The huge popularity of Los Angeles hard rockers Quiet Riot hadn’t helped either with many fans becoming confused between the two bands so founding guitarist Mark Reale decided to pull the pin altogether. He’d go on to reform the band three years later with a completely new lineup & it would be a full five years before the next Riot studio album.

It had been a full eleven years since Black Sabbath had kicked off the heavy metal genre with their self-titled album in 1970, but 1981 would see the Americans finally managing to contribute a major metal release in the third album from New York’s Riot (entitled “Fire Down Under”) representing a breakthrough moment for US metal. It showcased a beautifully produced & performed blend of energetic heavy metal & hard rock which appealed to me a hell of a lot more than the more commercially focused hard rock of the band’s 70’s material. So having already had my interest tweeked by “Fire Down Under”, I was interested to see what direction Riot had taken with their fourth album “Restless Breed” given the high expectations that come with a string of three critically acclaimed releases in a row & a progressively heavier & more refined sound. Well Riot’s early material was blessed by the inclusion of enormously talented front man Guy Speranza whose vocal ability was capable of lifting the band’s weaker material to much wider levels of appeal, but unfortunately “Fire Down Under” would be the last Riot album for Guy. He parted ways with the band in early 1982 which was partially the result of his ongoing frustration with Riot’s management & the music scene in general & partially because of family commitments following his recent marriage. But that wasn’t before Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian had offered him the empty vocal spot with Anthrax however. An offer which he proceeded to knock back by maintaining his intention to leave the music industry. I for one would have been very interested to hear a Guy-fronted Anthrax. Anyway… Riot had a big hole to fill & they did so with a 26 year-old singer from Georgia by the name of Rhett Forester.  

Rhett was a substantially different singer to Guy, possessing a bluesy & distinctly American sounding voice that was no less powerful. But it’s certainly a topic of great debate as to how suitable Rhett was for Riot’s sound with many fans feeling that he was instrumental in leading Riot down a bluesier & more commercially accessible path. And look… that may or may not be the case however I choose not to worry about that & to let my ears decide on whether I like this new version of Riot or not. For starters, fans are correct that “Restless Breed” has a distinctly more bluesy sound but not in a bad way. Rhett’s vocal approach certainly works well in that environment & I have to admit that I really like his sound. Riot’s albums have always included just as much hard rock as heavy metal so I don’t think it’s a major concern to hear that again here even though things are weighted a little further towards the hard rock side of things as they were on Riot’s first two albums to be fair. There’s even a total blues rock outing in the pretty decent “Showdown”. But the style of this record is not the only difference to Riot’s previous material with the production also being a major talking point. Production has always been a real strength for the band with a consistently bright & energetic sound being one of their major strengths. Unfortunately, “Restless Breed” doesn’t fit into that mould & the sound is a bit flat & lacking brightness. That’s not a complete deal-breaker by any stretch of the imagination however I do think it contributes to many people claiming that this album is much less heavy than it actually is. It certainly nullifies the impact of the musicianship a little & Mark Reale’s guitar solos don’t have quite the electricity that they did previously. The rhythm section seems to have taken a more basic approach than they have previously too which one would assume is an attempt to give the songs a more accessible flavour. Thankfully though, the song-writing is as strong as we’ve heard from Riot to this point & there are more highlights than on any of their first three albums in my opinion. 

Yep! That’s right everyone! While most Riot fans will tell you that “Restless Breed” was the point where the band started to decline I’m gonna go the other way & say that I find it to be their most enjoyable release to date; even taking into account the obvious production issues & the more commercial & bluesy sound. Opening track “Hard Lovin’Man” is amongst my very favourite heavy metal songs. It’s just an absolute corker! While “Loanshark” is also a really strong metal tune with some very intense thrash drumming that I’d imagine would have been pretty ground-breaking for the time. But Riot have never been a pure metal band. In fact, I found some of the more hard rock driven tracks on “Fire Down Under” to be amongst the highlights of the album & I’m tempted to say that I think they were as good a hard rock band as they were a metal one at this stage. The bluesy title track is a clear example of this. I simply love it. I think the fact that many of these songs lack the urgency & energy of Riot’s signature sound is probably an issue for some people & contributes to the lower regard for this album but I have no problem with it at all. It’s just a different sound & one that suits Rhett Forrester’s vocal style pretty well. There are still a few flat tracks to be fair (the cover version of Eric Burdon & the Animal’s “When I Was Young” in particular) but the larger percentage of highlights on this album caters for those better than it did on previous albums in my opinion. Unlike everyone else in the world this is my favourite Riot release to the time & I think you should all check it out with an open mind. It’s a real grower & improves substantially with repeat listens. 

Up-tempo San Francisco Bay area style thrash metal (ala Exodus/Vio-lence) mixed with classic heavy metal (ala Iron Maiden/Yngwie Malmsteen). The vocalist sounds quite a bit like Bruce Dickinson at times. Plenty of Maiden-esque guitar harmonies & shredding neo-classical guitar solos. The riffs often remind me of Gary Holt & Rick Hunolt from Exodus. Great musicianship from all involved. Has a lot of energy. A lot of people will love this but there's far too many cheesy moments & not enough outright thrash metal for my liking. The ballad "A Hero's Welcome" is truly disgusting.

A very similar type of record to their previous album "The Art Of Dying" from 2004 although I find this one to be slightly more consistent in that the low points aren't quite as low. There are a few flatter tracks of course but the production is once more of a very high quality which lifts these songs to higher levels than they would ordinarily have been capable of. They've continued to expand on their traditional thrash metal roots with a variety of other influences. There's some obvious heavy metal, groove metal, alternative metal & hardcore punk influences on this one & they don't feel out of place really. The vocals are again the focal point of the album & they really drive the highlight songs (see "Dethroned" & "Soulless"). A solid workman-like release from a band that knows their capabilities well. The best tracks from this album & "The Art Of Dying" showed glimpses of what they're really capable of. I'd love to hear a whole album of that quality.

This is a real mixed bag. It features some high quality material (see "5 Steps Of Freedom" & album highlight "The Devil Incarnate") mixed in with some fairly ordinary moments (see "No", "Spirit" & "Land Of Blood"). There's definitely quite a bit of punk influence on some of these tracks. Unfortunately that's not something that I'm very interested in so most of the songs that disappointed me tended to be the punkier ones. In fact, when you look at it objectively, "The Art Of Dying" is as much a heavy metal record as it is a thrash metal one. It reminds me of the approach Anthrax took with their "Worship Music" album in that regard. The production is excellent & there seems to be a stronger focus on song-writing over their more riffy older material. The vocal performance continues the improvement we saw on "Act III" & it's actually one of the more enjoyable aspects of the album. Overall "The Art Of Dying" is worth a listen but I won't be returning to it often.

I've never really gotten into Death Angel & time doesn't seem to have altered my opinions on this album. I love the raw thrashy production & there are plenty of great riffs but I think the song-writing is a bit lacking in maturity & sophistication (which is hardly surprising given their age). Also, although I don't mind Mark Osegueda's more aggressive vocal style I have a bit of trouble accepting all the out of key stuff when he tries to actually sing. He would have been far better off simply screaming his head off throughout the whole album than attempting to sing notes that he clearly can't hit. Luckily the production & raw energy of the band makes up for some of these negatives. They're at their best when they keep it a bit more basic & simply thrash out on tracks like "Kill As One" & "Mistress Of Pain". In fact I do find myself really enjoying parts of most of the tracks but I don't think I actually love any of them in their entirety as I always find something that lets the rest of the song down (like some dodgy vocals or a few substandard riffs). Not bad but overrated in my opinion.

I was a big fan of "Alice In Hell" when it was released & it still comes across as a really solid & ambitious thrash metal debut today. Every song includes at least a couple of classic thrash riffs but there are also plenty of more melodic King Diamond & Iron Maiden style heavy metal parts tossed in throughout the tracklisting, only they're generally played at high speed which gives the album a noticeable speed metal feel (see "WTYD", "Word Salad", "Ligeia"). The bass lines are really interesting & are also quite prominent in the mix which really enhances the progressive nature of the composition. Randy Rampage's vocals have invariably been a cause for debate over the years but I've always quite liked them. Jeff Waters guitar solos are certainly impressive, if a little high in the mix. His opening intro piece "Crystal Ann" is pure Yngwie Malmsteen worship.

I have to admit that the song structures are pretty loose by today's standards. In fact, a few of the songs sound quite pieced together but the quality of the riffs is good enough to overcome it. The links to technical thrash metal are overly ambitious as there's really not very much genuinely technical stuff on offer. "Alice In Hell" sits much more comfortably alongside bands like Testament & particularly Megadeth although it's the precision performances & overall sophistication in the song-writing that draws comparisons with the likes of Coroner.

Annihilator's debut album is comfortably their best work but I've never regarded it as a thrash classic. The title track certainly is & there's a case for "Burn Like A Buzzsaw Blade" too but the remainder of the album doesn't quite fit the bill, despite displaying an undeniable consistency & maturity.

I didn't find much to like about Rotting Christ's 2010 album "Aealo" (2.5/5). It didn't really have enough atmosphere or intensity to keep me interested so I didn't have high hopes for "Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy". Surprisingly I've found that it's not a bad record. It's equipped with a massive production that really suits it & there seems to be a fair bit more energy. The songs tend to be pretty epic with anthemic choruses & they've really broken out of the confines of traditional black metal these days into a sound all of their own. They keep things very simple & uncomplicated which is all that's required when you've got such a great production. You can really let the songwriting work for you in that environment. Unfortunately there are a couple of cheesier tracks which let them down (i.e. "Grandis Spiritus Diavolos" & "Iwa Voodoo") but the rest of the album is generally very solid & engaging.

I wasn't sure of what to expect from Rotting Christ's eleven album "Aealo". I've always found them to be underachievers who never really reached their full potential. This album is no different. "Aealo" sees the band all but lose their black metal identity in favour of a more traditional metal sound that features more of the ethnic influences that they have hinted at before. Sakis Tolis' raspy Tom G Warrior-style vocals sound thin & the musicianship & song structures are typically simple. There's also not enough atmosphere or intensity to keep me interested in this album. Probably Rotting Christ's weakest release to date.

I had high hopes for Rotting Christ's third album after the huge improvement they showed on the previous album "Non Serviam". I was quite a fan of that record & hoped the band could recapture some of the atmosphere they had created on that record. "Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers" also had the benefit of a much higher recording/production budget due to the backing of their new label Century Media so things were all looking very promising for the band at that time.  

The first thing I noticed about this release was that the extra money had been well spent in the production department. Everything sounds much cleaner & more powerful. The drums sound like an actual drummer for the first time & the guitars are very full which is in direct contrast to the thinner sound on "Non Serviam". Secondly Rotting Christ's trademark mid-paced tempos had been diluted somewhat. Much of "Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers" is at a slower & often doomier pace. I'm not sure I enjoy this as much as the drumming really does sound overly simple in this context. I think they really needed to work on making the drumming sound more interesting to keep things from coming across a little flat at times. In fact the whole album does tend to sound a little tame & could do with some more energy. It's missing a bit of the dark, majestic atmosphere that "Non Serviam" achieved & is guilty of dipping into the more light-weight melodic death metal bucket on more than the odd occasion. Quite a few tracks come across as fairly forgettable (see "King Of A Stellar War", "One With The Forest", "The First Field Of The Battle") & it really does come down to the quality & memorability of the riffs. There are some pretty tired old riffs included here amongst the weaker tracks. Unfortunately the improvements in the area of production haven't been matched by a continuation of the dramatic improvement they made in their musicianship from "Thy Mighty Contract" to "Non Serviam" & there's still a little left to be desired in the rhythm guitar performances here. The guitar solos still sound very clunky & are a struggle to listen to at times.   

Still, all is not lost. To their credit Rotting Christ have achieved a more varied album than "Non Serviam" which was considered to be a little one dimensional. The high points of the album are the tracks where the band manages to capture the listener emotionally. Tracks like "A Dynasty From The Ice" & album highlight "The Opposite Bank" achieve this through the use of more mature melodies & memorable song-writing. These moments often remind me of the elegance of early Paradise Lost & Katatonia & leave me humming the melodies for the rest of the day. If only the album was more consistent in that respect. Thankfully the production really does make the whole thing a more enjoyable experience than the song-writing deserves. Overall the inconsistencies of "Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers" makes it an overrated & inconsistent release.

Rotting Christ's second album is a massive improvement on "Thy Mighty Contract". The musicianship & song-writing has come forwards in leaps & bounds & everything is much more memorable. Their debut hinted at a more melodic side of black metal & this album sees that developed on further but it's important to note that they never descend into over-the-top cheese like many of the more melodic black/death metal bands do. This is quite a mature sound. The production is quite thin but it doesn't take away from the experience much as it's certainly not muddy & you can clearly make out all of the individual instruments. The guitar solos are still pretty poor & I've always thought Rotting Christ would be better off giving them away altogether. There has been a great improvement on the use of keyboards which sounded very amateurish on "Thy Mighty Contract". 

Rotting Christ have always been about atmosphere over brutality & it's no different here. They hold enough back to allow the songs to breath & the tempos don't generally get above mid-pace which can lead to a samey feeling with many of the tracks but the memorability of the melodies saves them from becoming boring. There's really not a poor song here.

I quite enjoyed Inquisition's 2010 album "Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm" so I was interested to see how the band had progressed since then. There's not many surprises here. They still sound very much like Immortal for the most part however there are plenty of slow, melodic sections that remind me quite a lot of Dissection's slower moments like "Where Dead Angels Lie". I don't think the slower stuff suits them quite as much as the faster brutal material but it's a nice changeup. It's undisputedly no-frills black metal with little attempt made to break new ground but it's definitely a professional package & is enjoyable throughout.

This was my first listen to Gris & I was initially a little unimpressed. A double album of fairly unintimidating atmospheric black metal featuring live violin with a heavy reliance folk instrumentation doesn't exactly sound like an attractive prospect to someone with my particular tastes. However things started to change for me on my second listen & by the time I'd given this a third run I was more than a little interested in what this Canadian duo have to offer. 

For starters it's not the longest double album in history & is easily endured in one sitting. The musicianship is absolutely top notch for an atmospheric black metal band. The bass lines are easily heard throughout & are always interesting. Plus the drumming shows a willingness to experiment that is quite endearing. I'm not entirely sold on the vocals but they get the job done. Some of the folk sections have a distinct Opeth feeling about them & the use of the violin & cello are not overblown at all. In fact they're used to enhance the atmosphere more than as a centrepiece. Overall I found this release to be an ambitious but ultimately rewarding experience.

Back in the day I would undoubtedly have dished out a five star rating for this album without hesitation however these days my feelings are a little different. The album starts off with “The Dawn of a New Age” which can only be described as Norwegian black metal of the highest level. In fact it may well be the best thing the band has ever done. It shows Satyricon at their most brutal & this is a side of the band that I find really exciting. The rest of the album has plenty more of those moments & this element has always kept “Nemesis Divina” fairly high in my esteem. “Mother North” is a good case in point. It includes plenty of brutality but also a great sense of melody that has given it such a wide appeal. What I’ve tended to forget about this album over time is that it also includes some ideas that didn’t quite work for me. The last section of “Forhekset” is pure folk metal which doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest. I also struggle with the piano section at the end of “Du som hater Gud”. Closing track “Transcendental Requiem of Slaves” seems to have no song structure whatsoever & is clearly just a bunch of leftover ideas they’ve flung together. Regardless of these issues there is some fine black metal going on for the most part. Frost’s drumming & Satyr’s vocals are ferocious throughout & are the clear highlights. A pretty great Norwegian black metal album that has plenty to offer but may be a touch overrated in my opinion.

I hadn't heard this one since the mid-90's & was interested to see how I felt about it these days. It features a fairly progressive & melodic death metal sound mixed with traditional Israeli folk music. That combination spawned some pretty interesting ideas as you can imagine but you can tell they were still developing their sound at this stage. Some of the more melodic death metal sections remind me quite a bit of early Amorphis & the death vocals sound similar to Aaron Stainthorpe's on the first couple of My Dying Bride releases. While it does tend to maintain my interest due to the unusual nature of the sound I still find "Sahara" to be a bit flat. I think it could do with a little more class in the production & musicianship departments to be honest. Orphaned Land certainly deserve credit for creating an album with a strong point of difference though.

Iron Maiden's "Live!! +one" E.P. was originally only released in Japan in November 1980 but it was later expanded for a Greek release in 1984. It features three live tracks (fan favourites “Sanctuary” & “Phantom Of The Opera” as well as “Drifter” from their as-yet un-recorded follow-up record “Killers”) which were recorded at the Marquee Club on 4th July 1980 plus the studio version of Maiden's cover of Skyhooks' “Women In Uniform” which had only recently received it's own single release. It’s not the best Maiden live recording you’ll find as it does sound a little bootleg-ish at times. Some of the sloppy lead work from Dennis Stratton is also a concern however it’s still early Maiden & they were a powerful & energetic live act at the time so you can easily overlook the flaws. Of the live material I think “Sanctuary” sounds a little better in a live environment so I enjoy it more than the studio version even though I've never been much of a fan of it's punky hard rock feel. “Phantom Of The Opera” misses the production of its studio counterpart which leaves it falling short of the classic album version but the high quality song-writing & composition still make it a highlight regardless. “Drifter” features a long drawn-out outro with a call-&-response audience participation section that mimics The Police’s “Walking On The Moon” & it’s a pretty fun listen even though it could definitely have been trimmed to keep its runtime more palatable. There's no question that it’s a good live song though & this version easily manages to do its studio counterpart justice. The tacked-on studio number “Women In Uniform” is an up-tempo & energetic number that’s been totally Maidenized with galloping rhythms & harmonized guitar lines. It's inclusion seems to be a largely redundant given the song's availability elsewhere however the hooky chorus really digs it’s teeth in & Paul’s vocal performance is excellent. Overall I find "Live!! +one" to be a pretty decent if inessential live release which is generally enjoyable without commanding regular revisits.

1980's "Invasion" album documents the humble beginnings of Manilla Road; a classic American three-piece heavy metal band who formed in Kichita, Kansas in 1977. They’d later go on to become known for a particularly epic brand of metal music however I’m not actually sure that I’d even call “Invasion” a metal record. To my ears it’s more of a combination of the progressive rock of Rush, the classic heavy metal of Judas Priest & the spacey psycheledic rock of Hawkwind.  There’s probably more prog rock than anything else though. Take my personal highlight track "Cat & Mouse" as an decent example of this as it sounds very much like a heavier version of Rush.  The only obvious metal tune is also the weakest track on the album by a fair margin in the heavily overrated “Street Jammer”. The space rock thing really comes into play during the guitar solos which are smothered in delay & other spacey effects & represent one of the best elements of “Invasion” in my opinion. The mix isn't ideal with the vocals sitting too high & the rhythm guitars not given enough clout which leaves them sounding pretty thin. But despite it's primitive nature, I have quite a bit of time for “Invasion”. The longer, spacier & more epic progressive tracks are the most impressive pieces of work but there are also some great metal riffs scattered throughout the tracklisting. It’s definitely worth checking out if you don’t mind a bit of prog rock & early 80’s heavy metal. 

This release shows Meshuggah really flexing their muscles. They are an extremely talented group of musicians performing powerful metal music that is both technical and unique. If you've heard any of the bands backcatalog you will know exactly what to expect from their sound. What you won't expect is the sheer perfection of this performance. There is barely a dud note on the whole CD. Although a little monotonous at times, the vocals are aggressive throughout. The rhythm section is inhumanly tight & the trademark Allan Holdsworth-style guitar solos complement the complex riffs splendidly. The slower crunchier moments are particularly effective in a live environment with the closer "Bleed" being the album highlight. A little more variation wouldn't go astray however I find this to be a very impressive release from one of the elite metal bands in the scene today.

I have mixed feelings about this album. On the positive side, the band rightly decided not to take the one-track epic with programmed drums any further as it had run it's course. Instead they decided to go back to their roots & returned with a sound that is basically a combination of all of their albums to date. On paper that sounds great. In practise it means that "ObZen" doesn't really offer anything that you haven't heard from them many times before. Because of this I find my attention waning at times during this album.   

All of the usual Meshuggah highlights are here (including the crushing bass guitar) & I do find myself loving a lot of this record but I have a little bit of an issue with the production as there seems to be too much high-end which leaves the album sounding a bit noisy & less precise. There seems to be a wall of crash cymbal throughout pretty much the entire album & the guitars are not as full as on previous albums. There is also very little variety in the vocals & it might be time to introduce something different there. That pretty much sums up the album really. A couple of Meshuggah's previous albums have been carried by the complexity & technicality of the song structures & riffs. "ObZen" is probably a little less complex than their recent releases which should help them recreate this stuff live. But this also takes away from the element that carried my interest during more monotonous periods on albums like "Catch Thirty Three".   

Overall, Meshuggah are still a fair distance above 99% of the metal scene (see "Bleed" which is as good a track as the band have ever recorded) & therefore I find it very difficult to give them a rating of less than 4 stars for such sublime metal music. However I think this will be the last time that I can justify giving a four-star rating to Meshuggah albums without them adding something new to their sound. Dazzle me guys!