Metal Massacre II - 1982
1. Armored Saint - "Lesson Well Learned": I actually haven't listened to much Armored Saint past
Reign of Fire, so I'm glad for the opportunity. It's about what I expected: driving trad metal with a hard rock mentality that's a little more raw than what I'm familiar with. Good riffs, good vocals, good ****.
2. 3rd Stage Alert - "Mind Invader": **** yeah, this rules! The music is relatively straight-forward early eighties heavy/power metal. Pretty good, but it's the singer that's the best part. He's got a lower register than you'd think of for this kind of thing, but in no way is he a screamer or a growler. He's got this low-key operatic thing going on that makes this PFE (Pretty ****ing Epic). Kind of reminds me of the guy from Falconer. And since Falconer have a song called "Mind
Traveler" I'm slightly curious if they are aware of this band. Hmm.
3. Surgical Steel - "Rivit Head": These guys obviously listen to far, FAR too much Judas Priest (if such a thing is possible). Fun but you could always just listen to
British Steel. Doesn't make me wanna skip though, so it's all good.
4. Obsession - "Shadows of Steel": Fun heavy/speed metal. Disposable, but I still dig it. I usually do after all.
5. Savage Grace - "Scepters of Deceit": Less disposable heavy/speed metal. The vocalist has a good range that would make Halford proud. Head is banging.
6. Overkill - "No Holds Barred": Hell yeah, Overkill. At this point, like Metallica and Anthrax, they resembled a heavy/speed metal band than the thrash metal band that they would become. Blitz also has more of a hard rock vocal style, and doesn't sound like an air raid siren. They're still high quality though, and this is certain to be one of the highlights of the album. I could swear I've heard this song in another form though. That high-energy, boogie riff is picking at my brain. Don't know if I'm going crazy, or if not, who ripped off who, but I think something might be up with this.
7. Warlord - "Lucifer's Hammer": One of the only Christian metal bands you'll ever hear, Warlord are a fairly awesome trad metal/power metal band. They've got some great energy here, with a vocalist that brings the song into the heavens to create some PFE'ness. I totally need to go back and relisten to their debut.
8. Trauma - "Such a Shame": Trauma are only really notable for being one of those bands that "X" was in before they joined "Band Y". The "X" being Cliff Burton, and "Band Y" being Metallica. The vocalist is a bit too cheesy even for me, but the crunchy speed metal on display is pretty tasty. Not bad.
9. Dietrich - "It's Alright": Kicking off with a bitchin' riff with some good crunchy production is an excellent way to get my attention. So, these guys have my seal of approval already. Nothing mind-blowing. Just more riff-based heavy metal, but these guys know how to make the head bang and who could ask for more?
10. Molten Leather - "Inversion": Best. Name. Ever. What the **** is "molten leather" anyway? Wouldn't leather just burn? Whatevs. Too bad these guys are just kinda okay. I was hoping to be able to say, "Yeah, I dig stuff like Jag Panzer, Virgin Steele, Molten Leather. You know, music." There is a good riff in there though. I likes riffs.
11. Hyksos - "Kings": With a name like Hyksos I'm guessing these guys are nerds. I don't imagine a bunch of generic metalhead neanderthals are gonna use an obscure historical reference like that. That's nerd ****. And with vocals
that high these are definitely some proto-power metal dorks. Just looked at their one album cover, yeah, king riding a horse, castle, dark and stormy night. Nerds. Fun stuff. I don't know if I'll be running off to listen to more of them, but I am entertained. PFE (The Batlord loves his new jargon) if nothing else.
12. Aloha - "Heavy Metal Virgin": Aloha? Seriously? There should be a law against metal bands named Aloha. And they're a generic NWOBHM-worshipping metal band (although with some lame glam metal vocals) who don't have much to recommend them other than that they're fun enough that I could listen to them for a song or two and not feel like skipping them