Trollheart

Having only experienced --- and disliked --- “Cowboys from Hell”, I never went further with my exploration of Pantera, but I’m assured that that particular album was from their “Groove Metal” days (though I didn’t see anything groovy about it!) and this is their debut, released on an independent label and more in the glam/trad metal wheelhouse, so perhaps I’ll enjoy it more than my only other meeting with his band.

First thing I have to say is, how awful is that sleeve? Jesus! It’s like someone said be as, to use a word The Batlord favours, goofy about it as possible! Hopefully the music does not reflect the cartoon image on the cover.


Metal magic --- Pantera --- 1983 (Metal Magic)
Recommended by Wpnfire (and Briks)
With spacey, weird sounds including what seems to be a sonar signature, “Ride my rocket” gets us on our way with that faux live sound I hate. But the song is reminiscent of Diamond Head at their best, and I can hear the vocals nice and clearly, which is certainly a nice surprise. It's a good rocker and bops along really nicely like something out of the early years of the NWOBHM, despite being American. Perhaps shows the influence bands like DH and Angel Witch were having 'cross the pond? Good bit of guitar histrionics there from Dimebag Darrel (was that really his name, God rest his soul?) while Terry Glaze (again...?) belts out the vocal.

It's a good start and we move on into “I'll be alright”, with a chugging guitar and rolling drums, heavier than the somewhat more AOR feel of the first track, a darker, almost early Iron Maiden (I'm talking “Killers”, the debut) element to it. The vocal is grittier, the guitar snarlier, the whole thing giving the impression of a band suddenly growing up real fast. The growls at the end are pointless and superfluous though, and instead of sounding hard and tough Glaze sounds like he's on the toilet. His vocal changes a third time, into a sort of John Parr/John Mitchell hybrid as “Tell me if you want it” seems to be very clearly targeting a radio audience. To be honest it's okay; it is heavy but there's a sense of commerciality, or desired commerciality about it that sort of makes me shake my head. And not in a good way. Good solo though.

There's more of a straightahead rock vibe to “Latest lover”, where I'm put in mind of original Tygers of Pan-Tang vocalist Jeff Cox, and I can hear the early influence of Van Halen here too, but again the song lacks something. It's kind of wavering between being a rock song and an AOR one. Odd. Keyboards which are not credited usher in the quite sumptuous ballad “Biggest part of me”, as Pantera confound my attempts to pigeonhole them once again, penning a superb radio-friendly love song that just fairly shimmers with emotion and heartache, but also has a killer guitar riff driving it. Anyone surprised if I say this is my favourite track so far? Really? Do you know me at all, there at the back? Let me introduce myself...

This song has hit (no, hit! )written all over it, but no doubt it wasn't. Also, that man or woman on keys is being criminally treated by being left anonymous. A searing solo from Darrell takes us into a really emotional guitar passage and back into the vocal. There's nothing about this song I don't like. Well, I would have preferred a stronger finish. A deep keys intro then to the title track, a sound like helicopter blades before it whistles off into the distance and Darrell flies in with the guitar, slicing up the tune like a master lumberjack cutting up a fallen tree trunk, and this song belts along with real rock and roll purpose. I definitely would liken these guys at this moment to Diamond Head, particularly on the NWOBHM band's first two albums. The vocal is a little buried in the mix at times, almost whispering once or twice, but the nameless keyboard player does a star turn and really helps carry the song. Big machinegun guitar ending, though again it seems to come to a close a bit too abruptly.

“Widowmaker” is another mid-paced rocker with what I would have to term a somewhat weak vocal from Glaze, whose resemblance to Sean Harris is nothing short of uncanny. If I find he never even listened to DH I will be amazed. “Nothin' on (but the radio)” shows the beginnings of the move they would later make in the direction of groove metal, but for now it has an almost pop sentiment to it, and with the words ”On the radio” being constantly repeated I can't help but think of Donna Summer...

I must admit I thought “Sad lover” would be another ballad, but it starts with a big “Woo-hah!” and then piles into a boogie rocker with a lot of teeth, and as the closer is entitled “Rock out” I think we can assume there was just the one ballad on this album, and it still remains my standout. As for “Sad lover”? It's okay but nothing special, a very formulaic, generic rock track that any of half a hundred metal, rock or even pop bands could have written and sung. Meh, at least it's short. And it has a pretty killer guitar solo in it, but even Dimebag Darrell can't rescue this one I'm afraid. Think Bon Jovi meet the Quireboys. Yeah. Can we go out in style though? Well we get a big growling guitar and heavy drumming and then a suitably gravelly vocal from Glaze on what is actually the longest track on the debut, a little short of six minutes.

There's an element of groove about this too, and boogie to an extent. It's a good heavy song and seemingly wants nothing to do with radio, unless it's blasting it out its car window while speeding down the highway. Speaking of speeding, it picks up tempo halfway as the drums under the control of Vinnie Paul, Dimebag's brother, crash and tumble all over the place. That doesn't last though and it goes back to the original tempo as the song heads into its finale and closes the album reasonably well.

TRACKLISTING

1. Ride my rocket
2. I'll be alright
3. Tell me if you want it
4. Latest lover
5. Biggest part of me
6. Metal magic
7. Widowmaker
8. Nothin' on but the radio
9. Sad lover
10. Rock out

Not a classic by any means, and I don't see any indications that Pantera a) were going to become pretty huge or b) would so radically change their style, but then there were seven years between this and the release of “Cowboys from Hell”, their first of five albums over ten years on major labels. Guess their sound evolved. Here though I would have said, listening to this for the first time and knowing nothing of Pantera, that they were destined to be just another metal band swallowed up in the plethora of their kind who were rising, and falling, during the early eighties as metal became redefined over in the UK, and that permeated across the Atlantic. I don't see the signs of greatness here; this just seems pretty generic to me.

Just as well I never had a job as a talent scout, eh?

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

I thought it would be really cool, considering the last country on my short whistlestop tour of Metal is my own homeland, if I could finish this look at Viking Metal by reviewing an Irish example, but I can't find one, or at least, one with output I can find, so I'm going for an American one instead. Believe me, it wasn't as easy as it would seem. Most of the bands that came up either had no albums or their albums were not available. So I ended up with this, which was, ironically, the very first name on the list. I skipped it because it sounded too much like Finntroll, but, you know, beggars can't be etc.

Sea of blood --- Finsternis --- 2007 (Independent)

To be honest, I'm expecting a more brutal form of Viking Metal here. Don't quite know why, but I just don't see it being anything like progressive or power or anything. More edging towards the dark side, as it were. But we'll see. This is the debut and so far only album from Waco, Texas-based Finsternis, and what a bunch of Texans has to do with Vikings you'll have to decide yourself. But then, we can't all be born in the lands of the Norse legends can we, and that shouldn't be a barrier to playing this sort of music if you have the right spirit and the talent. Have Finsternis? Got the attitude and the talent? Read on...

It's a dark, low-key, ominous sort of opening to “Resounding”, a snarling electric guitar rising through the mix as the percussion stomps in, the beat getting faster as the vocal reveals itself to be a scratchy, screechy one which I was kind of expecting. Yeah, Vitzel (they all use single names apparently) is not going to be one of my favourite vocalists. Guitar work is good, thanks to Nettie (seriously? Nettie? He couldn't think of a harder, more Viking name than that? ) and it's basically a slow plodder, not quite in doom metal territory but not too far removed from it at times. The album has only seven tracks, but with one clocking in at ten minutes and most of the rest not falling below the six or seven minute mark, we're not exactly looking at an EP here! Tempo's quickening now a little, but it's a little basic, after the violins, accordions and orchestra we've been listening to from Turisas.

“The journey” is that long ten-minuter I told you about, and it starts with a nice melodic gutar that sort of sways along though somehow I get the feeling it's out of tune, or something is, though I assume that's being done deliberately, to achieve an effect the band want to create. The guitar slows down now, almost acoustic, very gentle for the first two minutes. When Kuester comes in properly on the drums it speeds up slightly, though not that much. With the appearance of the vocals from Vitzel it takes on a faster, harder edge for a time, then turns into a sort of romp as the song reaches the fourth minute. To be fair to him, I've heard much worse than Vitzel, and you can basically make out what he's saying. His voice is certainly very powerful and I guess fits in with that sort of ragged, raw, gruff feel you get from a lot of Viking Metal. Nice little melodic guitar passage there in the eighth minute, with some fine bass from Anreischken. Then it all winds up for the big finish, throttles open and hammers down as Vitzel screams his head off. Strangely enough, it ends though on a very ambient guitar piece.

A fast riffing guitar finds us “In the halls of the wicked”, the song itself striding along with purpose, falling into a marching rhythm before slowing down at the halfway point to allow Nettie to run another of his introspective passages, Anreischken walking carefully behind him as the tune gives a feeling of building up to something. And it is. In the fifth minute Nettie winds up his guitar and lets loose, Kuester pounding in with the drums too and Vitzel roars the final verse, or chorus, or whatever it is. There's a sense of folk music to “Phantom carrack”, before it bursts off on a fast guitar line up to about the halfway point again, when it briefly slows down then speeds up again. I'd have to say though, other than the tempo changes there's not a whole lot going on here, and little to interest me.

Well, that said, there are some tubular bells or somesuch coming in there at the end, and a nice laconic guitar line to close it all out. That was unexpected, in an album that was becoming very predictable and stale. The title track is up next, and using more bells, this time dark pealing funeral ones, we have a slow moody intro on guitar with a really bleak bassline driving the tune. Now though the ambience is destroyed as Nettie starts riffing hard, and we're back to the basic sort of music these guys seem to thrive on. Yeah, I really can't find anything here to get too excited about. Vitzel is certainly enjoying himself, bellowing to his heart's content. He cuts back a little on the growls as the song moves into its last minute, more bells ringing and a faster solo taking it there.

You probably know what to expect from a song entitled “War song”, and with dour rolling drums and a groaning guitar we go for nearly two minutes of the almost seven the track runs for without vocals, other than Vitzel roaring “War” and “Death!” before it speeds up on a harder guitar, the percussion intensifying to meet it, Nettie displaying some really fine chops on the frets. Goes kind of “Children of the grave” for the concluding section, trundling along nicely and taking us to the closer, and the shortest track, “Denoument”.

Less than two minutes long, it's a relaxed, laidback instrumental with what sounds very much like violin driving it, the sounds of muted thunder overhead; an understated, low-key kind of coda to the album.

TRACKLISTING

1. Resounding
2. The journey
3. In the halls of the wicked
4. Phantom carrack
5. Sea of blood
6. War song
7. Denoument

I certainly won't say that Americans can't or shouldn't do Viking Metal: I haven't heard nearly enough to make that sort of pronouncement. But of the albums I've heard over the course of this short series this probably ranks as one of the worst, and I wonder is it coincidence that it doesn't come from the lands where the Vikings originated? But even Spanish Viking Metal seems better than this. Mind you, it does have all the hallmarks of the subgenre and maybe it's just that I don't particularly like the less inventive, straightforward Viking Metal; I'm more for Turias, Einherjer and Bathory, who put a lot of thought into their music.

Not that I'm sure Finsternis don't also work hard on theirs, but just here it doesn't show, not to me. It seems very basic and unimaginative. I would have preferred to have heard a few instruments other than just guitar, bass and drums. I feel this band is lacking something, and their songs don't seem all that well constructed to me. But again, as I've said a few times this month, what do I know?

So that's our short exploration of Viking Metal over. Hope you enjoyed it, and if you, like me, knew little or nothing about the subgenre before this then I hope it's helped open your eyes a little to this kind of music. Whether that's been for the good or the bad is of course up to you. For myself, I've enjoyed a lot of the bands here, but I've come to see that whereas I always sort of saw Viking Metal as a kind of offshoot of power metal, it's something more than that, something much different. It's primal, tribal, even brutal, but it reflects a deep understanding for and love of the traditions of the ancient Scandinavian warriors. Like them I suppose, sometimes it's hard to understand the vocals, but as when you were menaced by a Viking brandishing a battleaxe you didn't need to know what he was saying, so too the music here drives much of the enjoyment you get from Viking Metal.

It's almost always loud, often cacophonously so, but behind it usually lies a story, a tale of heroism and bravery, of gods and men, of times long past and often of a religion which sought to crush it, and which in the end did. But the names and traditions and stories of the Norsemen live on through this music, and for that we should be thankful. It's not for everyone, and it doesn't always quite click, but when it does --- oh Odin! It's like Happy Hour in the Halls of Valhalla! So if you like this sort of music, drink your fill, because the taps are always flowing, and the drink is free. And best of all, there's no hangover --- unless you bang your head too vigorously, of course!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Man, it smells down here. Place probably hasn't seen the touch of disinfectant nor polish in years. Needs a woman's touch. Now if I were able to --- whoa there Troll! You're slipping into the female mindset again. Hard not to of course when these massive bazoogas are in front of my eyes --- why did he have to make them so large? Not that I'm complaining necessarily. But they are heavy, am I'm not used to carrying such weight in front of me. Hey! A thought just occurred: how did he manage to have an outfit that exactly fitted my new petite but voluptuous body? That must have been an embarrassing purchase! I can see it now...

“And what size bust is the young lady sir?”
“What? Oh ... er ... I dunno. Big. You know ...”
“Yes sir. Bra sizes go up to double letters if your ladyfriend is, ah, specially endowed. Would that be correct?”
“Um. No, I don't think double figures. Just, you know, big.”
Batty holds his hands out in the universal cupping gesture beloved of lecherous men the world over. The assistant gives a knowing wink. She's been around. She knows how to deal with this kind of customer!
“Perhaps if you wished to try the outfit on, sir? The changing rooms are just through ...”
Batty explodes, his face acquiring the hue of a Mexican tomato. “What? WHAT?? No! No, you don't understand. It's not me me! I don't wear ... how could you think .. why would I...?
The assistant nods in sympathy. “Oh it's nothing to be ashamed of sir. We get many ---” But Batty has already fled, the intimation burning his cheeks and the imagined laughter of other customers ringing in his ears.
Then again, he probably just bought it online. Nice though. Skirt's definitely too short, however...

Snap out of it Trollette! I think I hear him approaching. At least I'm through listening to Limp Bizkit. Nothing could be as bad as that. Unless ... A shiver of horror creeps up my gently arching spine. He wouldn't, would he? Another of their albums? Oh no, even The Batlord wouldn't be so cruel. Plus it would be redundant, and he doesn't like to repeat himself, does he? Not down here in


As if he's been somehow able to hear my thoughts --- or more likely, what I believed I was thinking was in fact being muttered by me (it gets lonely down here, and sometimes talking to yourself is the only way you can keep any kind of sanity) --- he grins in the darkness, his voice a sibilant whisper.

“No, I don't”, he confirms. “No more Limp Bizkit for you. This time, we have something entirely different.”

Dommedagsnat --- Thorr's Hammer --- 1996 (Moribund Records)

Ah yes, I've heard him talk of this one. To be honest, had he not mentioned it I might have been taken by surprise by the vocal, but then the singer, Runhild Gammelsæter, is shown on the cover of the album. Well, more an EP reallym with only six tracks. This should be easy! Total running time of just over twenty minutes. Ah, Batty! Getting soft in your old age?

Hold on a minute! I'm confused: six tracks, and three are exactly the same titles and lengths? Side A is the same as side B? So are there only three tracks? How weird. I guess that's it then. This may be easier than I thought. Well, he's pushing play so let's see what we got.

Oh yeah: obviously I'm no longer a zombie, or proto-zombie, thanks to his regeneration machine or whatver it is. Okay well there's some sort of female chanting to start off “Norge”, with a thick dark guitar line and then Runhild kicks into it as the guitar punches in properly --- oh wait a moment! I just looked at the lineup and other than her these guys' name are SO black metal: Greg Anderson (sounds like an accounting firm), Stephen O'Malley (sounds like a member of the reserves for the Ireland Under 21 soccer team), James Hale (no relation to Fred?) and Jamie Sykes. Good lord! She's the only one with any sort of dark, portentous name, and that probably means like Betty Black or something. Mind you, she has a PhD so I had better not just write her off as a pretty face. Though she is. Concentrate Trollette, concentrate!

Anyway, the two guitars --- I guess you'd say the two arms of Thorr's hammer --- are handled by Greg and Stephen (titter) and they do a good job, but it's when sweet little Runhild starts singing that you really get a surprise. To think that's a seventeen year old girl singing, well it just takes the breath away. I said breath! God! Some people! She sounds about the darkest voice I've heard, and I've listened to some Cookie Monsters this month! When she cuts down to her “normal” voice it's really nice, as the guitars slow and Jamie on the bass adds his touch. But you know it won't last. And here comes the monster again.

I don't know: maybe my experiences during Metal Month II have somewhat inured me to this kind of music, or maybe I'm just expecting it so it's not a shock, but while it's unsettling I don't see it being a major thing. It's certainly not like listening to Cryptopsy. I'll tell you one thing though: I hope she doesn't use that voice when she's in bed with her boyfriend. Or girlfriend. Whatever, it's not a thing you want to wake up to or hear just at, um, “the moment”! Decent guitars yeah but it's very doom/black metal-by-the-numbers, and if it wasn't for Runhild being the vocalist this would be another very forgettable album as far as I'm concerned. Nothng to worry about here!

HEALTH: 100%

“Troll” is a little slower (!) and she starts off with the dark vocal right away. I have of course no idea what she's singing, even if she's singing in English, and you have to wonder how she developed that voice. Could be a real one to fool your mates on “name that vocalist”, if such a game existed. But generally it's more of the same, the guitars a touch more animated, and though I certainly don't like this, I don't like it in the same way I don't like Eminem or the Sex Pistols: it doesn't scare me, outrage me or make me lose any of my bodily functions. It just makes no real impression on me, and I think Batty's annoyed to see a smile on my full, sensuous lips...

HEALTH: 100%

And so we come to the closer, already. Had this EP been longer then maybe I would have hated it more, maybe it would have been harder to get through and maybe it would have made more of a negative impression on me. But as it is, were my hands free I'd be doing my nails or touching up my lipstick. Or possibly trying to pull down this skirt --- getting a chill here Batty! But not from the music: it's just boring really. The vocal is interesting, but since I already knew about it the shock value, such as it is, has been robbed from this album. It's like someone telling you the exact moment the murderer springs on his victim in the latest shlock horror, and what he does. Once you know, it lessens the surprise and reduces the impact. Even at that though, had I not known this was a young girl singing I would just have assumed it was another vocalist doing my least favourite type of singing. Doesn't bother me. Don't like it, but it doesn't bother me.

This is the longest song on the album, the title track and god knows what it means, though maybe with the word “domme” in it there's some connection to bondage or domination? How appropriate, huh, given my current position? But it's all the same: slow, plodding, grinding, churning, boring. Even the novelty value of a seventeen year old hottie who sings like Satan's worst nightmare has very quickly worn off. Bored now.

HEALTH: 100%

Well, that made absolutely no impression on me. If that's the best you can do, Batty, you may as well let me go now, because I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of ... hmm? Gnaw their what? Okay, sure: bring it on. I'm getting cocky --- I mean, confident now, aren't I? What's that? You'll wipe that smile off my face, will you? Yeah well, we'll see. Do your worst. I can take it.

I hope...

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Trollheart

La masquerade infernale --- Arcturus --- 1997 (Music for Nations)
Recommended by The Batlord
Batty tells me this band could be considered progressive metal, though they're mostly tagged with a Black/Avant-garde label. I can do A/G; I like Theater des Vampires and of course Diablo Swing Orchestra, but Black could present a problem. No it is not racist! This is Arcturus's second album and apparently saw a huge shift from their original doom metal leanings, with the shrill screams in the vocals on the previous album replaced by somewhat cleaner, if deeper and gruffer ones.

They're from Norway and have titled their album in French, but I'm somewhat relieved to see that their songs are all in English. Whether that relief will be short-lived or not we will find out. “Master of disguise” opens with deep boomy synths and orchestral strings with the vocal --- well, weird. You know when you hit someone on the back as they're talking? Yeah, that kind of strange vibrato effect. As the song gets going the vox start to alternate between more normal and a very high-pitched operatic soprano from guest vocalist Simens Hestnæs, which is quite jarring. I immediately see what the batty one meant about “goofy vocals”. The song now slows down into a stately, serene pace with some really nice piano from Sverd (yeah, they all have weird names) then takes up a sort of swaying tempo with some expressive guitar from Knut Magne Valle (!) before he lets loose with a pretty decent solo. To be fair, the operatic vocals have not at this point returned and the singing is mostly in a sort of bass voice which I think tries to be menacing but fails utterly. Kind of like a mermaid trying to be a vampire. Some violin and viola adds to the feeling of drama, and we're into “Ad astra”.

With a big, ominous, dark synth sound and slow, portentous drumming from Hellhammer (oh please!) it's the longest track at short of eight minutes, but like the one before it seems to weave in and out and all over the place. I like variety in music, but I also like there to be a clear pattern: everything should come eventually to create a final picture. This I find a little haphazard. What little singing there has been so far, this time from band vocalist G. Wolf, has been largely unnoticed and as we enter the third minute I'm still really thinking of this as an instrumental, although it isn't. Harpsichordical piano takes the tune in a new direction, with attendant cello and violin provided by guest musicians Hans Josef Groh and Vegard Johsen respectively. Must admit it's a really nice tune; again, the vocal comes in but you could almost ignore it.

Some really superb keyboard passages now as the strings section keep Sverd company, then take over as Valle lets loose on the guitar. It's over now and I would still consider that an instrumental. I did like it, that's for certain. A much harder, metal edge to “The chaos path” with the return of Hestnæs on vocals, but this time he's singing like an imam in a minaret. Tres weird! More scope for Valle's fretboard skills here, Hellhammer's drumming much more powerful though not much faster, and the synth barking out odd noises and effects. The title track is an instrumental, but has an annoying taped effect running through it, like someone scratching a record, and it really detracts from the otherwise quite nice piano that drives the tune.

“Alone”, based on a poem by that jolly Edgar Allan Poe chap, is a little discordant and chaotic, but has again that sweet piano running through it, with some decent synth also. It's a bit too intense though I feel, and speaking of intense, the orchestral section near the end really ramps up the tension and freneticity (is that a word?) until we head into “The throne of tragedy”, with a spacey synth opening and wind noises. A sort of metallised voice speaks in the distance but I have no idea what it's saying. Now the music picks up on guitar and keys, and again it's largely instrumental, which given the vocal style here I have no real problem with.

Humourous aside: the mastering for the album was performed by Gandalf Stryke. What a great name! Can't you just picture it? “No, I don't care! You can find your own way through the Mines of Moria! I'm on strike! Equal rights for wizards! We shall not be moved! Come on, Radagast: join me – We shall not, we shall not be ---” (Yeah, I'm becoming a bit bored with the album, in case you hadn't twigged. Okay then, back to it)...

“Painting my horror” promises much from such a title, but again it kind of goes off in every direction, running here, running there, trying to be all things to all men and kind of missing its mark, if it has one. Very confusing. DSO do this sort of thing so much better. The song goes into a sort of traditional Russian folk tune for a few moments, then dissolves into ... I don't know. Something else. It's exhausting, keeping up with all the elements of this album. Those annoying operatic vocals from Hestnæs are back, though not for too long. The last track is “Of nails and sinners”, but to be honest it's kind of more of the same, directionless and trying to be more clever than I think Arcturus are, and though there's drama and pathos in the song it's a little hard to take seriously, which is an accusation I'm afraid I have to level at the whole album.

TRACKLISTING

1. Master of disguise
2. Ad astra
3. The chaos path
4. La masquerade infernale
5. Alone
6. The throne of tragedy
7. Painting my horror
8. Of nails and sinners

If there's one word that fits this album perfectly and encapsulates what it's all about, then Batty has used it: goofy. It's just impossible to pay any real attention to the album, as the songs are constantly dividing and subdividing; cello here, piano there, high vocal, low vocal, instrumental passage, effects ... it's all just a little hard to pin down. It's like a whole house of noisy kids all vying for your attention, and in the end all you want to do is give them a slap. Your patience will only last so far, and this album has stretched mine to the limit.

Think I preferred Cryptopsy!

Disclaimer: I do not prefer Cryptopsy...

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

The second of this trilogy of various artists albums I want to look at again concerns many of the bands who rose --- and many who fell --- during the NWOBHM. There are names on it who went on to become semi-famous --- Diamond Head, Raven --- but like the other album the larger percentage of the contributors to it faded away or just failed to get the big break they would have needed. Two of the bands featured on “Metal for Muthas Vol II” are here too, so it’s not such a catalogue of the dichotomy that existed between the bands who made it and those who didn’t, but it’s still an interesting look at the differences between the various bands who jumped onto the NWOBHM train, all hoping to hitch a ride to success and stardom.


Brute Force --- Various Artists --- 1980 (MCA)

It’s not a very imaginative sleeve, and even the title could be said to be overstating the case, as some of these bands would not be what you would consider to be on the heavier side of things, but the album did at least showcase some real talent, and provides us in some cases with a rare opportunity to hear bands who were never heard from again. One of these is of course not Diamond Head, who open up the compilation.

Track one: “It’s electric” by Diamond Head

All you need to know (and much more) about Diamond Head you can find out by going back through my journal and reading the latest instalment in “Witches, Bitches, Maidens and Monsters --- the Bands of the NWOBHM”, a six-part series I am running on the subject. Suffice to say, Diamond Head were moderately successful, but never quite broke into the big time the way the likes of Maiden and Leppard did. With confusion over the direction in which they wanted to head, tensions built between the band and their fans got bored after a too-long hiatus, losing interest. This was rekindled in the 90s when thrash gods Metallica covered their “Am I evil?” giving them another brief shot at fame, but at that point they had been away from the scene for so long that really, nobody remembered them and the young ‘uns getting into Metallica thought the song was theirs, so that when DH played it they all thought the boys were doing a Metallica cover! Oh, the irony of fate!

The track is a typical DH song from their early period. Hard, dirty rock and roll with little or no finesse and the idea of a real crowdpleaser on stage. Even here though you can tell that Sean Harris had a special voice, and these guys really should have got it together and made it as they deserved to. Stop/start riffs and romping drumwork carry the song, and it’s a decent rocker with a lot of potential that would crop up on their debut album, “Lightning to the nations”.

So where are they now?

Unfazed by their lack of commercial success, and perhaps buoyed by the Metallica seal of approval, Diamond Head are still going. They released their sixth album in 2007, though Sean Harris had by then departed after the old “creative differences” chestnut.

Track two: “Brain damage” by Fist. Possibly an appropriate title, given the general air of concern at the time that teenagers were putting themselves in danger by headbanging.

Like Diamond Head, Fist were feted but through a combination of factors never hit the bright lights. They recorded three albums but were dropped by their label, the somewhat infamous MCA, after the first alum failed to perform, while Neat followed suit in 1982 after their second album did as poorly. They broke up then but reformed in 2001 and in 2005 they released their final album, no doubt thinkign “third time’s the charm.” It wasn’t.

With an almost industrial opening, the song marches along nicely on the back of hard guitar, a sort of dark, ominous feel to it, and their vocalist is a little high-pitched in a manner which reminds me of Halford, though nowhere near as good. If “It’s electric” was the clean track, “Brain damage” has dirt all over it, and revels in its muckiness. It falls apart in the middle, when the guys try to emulate a madman being released from the nut hatch, but it just sounds like they’ve gone out of tune. Good solo though.

So where are they now?

After the release of their third album, “Storm”, on their third label, nothing more has been heard of Fist, and even that album was recorded by a totally different lineup, with only the original founder remaining. Having managed to struggle to survive into the twenty-first century --- more than many NWOBHM bands could do --- we must assume they are now broken up.

Track three: “Let it rip” by Raven.

Again, you’ll find a full profile of them in that series in my journal, but Raven were considered one of the stayers of the movement, and augmented their success by heading Stateside, unlike Praying Mantis (also featured) who used their trip across the ocean to disassociate themselves from their fanbase and never really recovered. Raven were one of the harder bands, playing loud and fast, almost edging into speed metal territory, though they apparently described their style as “athletic rock”.

The track flies along with snarling guitars, vocalist John Gallagher coming close to the sort of vocals Lemmy and even James Hetfield employed. Again there’s nothing clever or groundbreaking about the song, even in its lyrical content. But it is a lot of fun, and it rocks like a good thing!

So where are they now?

As I said, Raven were one of the few to make it out of the slew of bands all fighting for success in the early eighties, and released twelve albums, the most recent of which hit the shelves in 2009. With gigs lined up including a cruise from Miami to Mexico, they’re definitely still relevant today and one of the small number of survivors from the NWOBHM.

Track four: “Gotta get back to you” by Prowler

Very little information available on these lads, not helped by the fact that there were in fact two bands in the UK called Prowler, both of whom operated during the era of the NWOBHM and both of whom played the same style of music. The only details I can dig up about this Prowler is that they only ever recorded one track (this one, presumably) and then changed their name to Samurai (with stunning and almost pigheaded irony, taking the name already used by a band in Wales!), but this didn’t work out either and they are split up now.

The track’s a fast, uptempo kind of song, sort of a Memphis blues feel to it, decent singer but at the moment I don’t hear anything special that lifts it above the rest of the pile, and nothing to justify some comments that it was better than average. I’m assuming --- though I could be wrong --- that the band’s name was taken from the Iron Maiden song on their debut. Whether the other Prowler did the same or not I can’t say. Pretty sweet guitar solo, to be fair. Oh wait! This is nice! The guitarist is riffing off a Russian jig! Now that’s different, if somewhat out of place.

So where are they now?

As mentioned, after having taken the same name as another band working in the same field Prowler changed their name to Samurai, perhaps unaware that they were again taking the same name as another band working in the same field. Yep, there was already a band in Wales using that name. Research, guys! Research! Then they appear to just have faded away.

Track five: “Fantasia” by Sledgehammer

Another, it has to be said, fairly average band, their profile probably not helped by the fact they came from Slough, in Berkshire. I mean, do you know of any big bands who originated there? Again though they appear to have been badly managed and despite releasing an album (more than Prowler did!) they just never made it big. Oddly enough, this doesn’t seem to appear on their only album, “Blood on their hands”, nor the, ah, compilation released in 1984. Strange little track with a good beat and a slight sense of Lizzy in the guitars. Interesting and funny lyric in ”She blew my mind/ And that ain’t all!” Cheeky, boys! Cheeky! A good stomper, good fun, but ultimately a little throwaway I feel.

So where are they now?

Little is known of what happened to them, and after a three-year hiatus in 1980, somewhat a la Diamond Head, they lost whatever momentum they were gaining through their purportedly excellent live shows, people moved on and forgot them. By the time they returned in 1983 with their album, nobody really cared and Sledgehammer became yet another burned-out shell of a car on the busy motorway of the NWOBHM.

Track six: “Breakdown” by Colin Towns.

Colin Towns was best known for his work with Ian Gillan in the ex-Purple man’s solo band, though he later broke out from the Metal genre and composed soundtracks for many films and TV series. He is principally a pianist/keyboard player.

Well, unfortunately here is where I have to make a confession. I don’t have the album. It was never mine. My brother owned it and I listened to it, but that was three decades ago and whether he even has it now is doubtful, but if he does it doesn’t help me as a) we don’t talk and b) it was on vinyl and I have no turntable anymore. Deep searches on the net have all come up blank, mostly due to this I guess being an obscure song in the now-impressive catalogue of a successful composer, so I can’t tell you what the song is like, though I have a feeling it was quite progressive. But I don’t recall being overly impressed by it. Oh well.

So where are they now?

As related above, Towns parted company with Gillan and became a very successful and in demand composer of soundtracks. He also released some solo albums. He’s still going strong today.

Track eight: “Earthquake at the Savoy” by Mick Underwood

Another ex-Gillan alumnus, Underwood had been around a long time before he joined that band, and became a respected drummer for many bands.

Sadly, the track is another one that has the internet stymied and has not survived. I know it was an instrumental, and given that Underwood is a drummer, well you can guess the picture. Bernie Torme, ex of Gillan and later Whitesnake, also guests on it.

So where are they now?

Having been in so many bands prior to Gillan, Underwood is still going strong and has his own band, Mick Underwood’s Glory Road.

Track eight: “Back to the grind” by White Spirit

We met White Spirit on "Metal for Muthas II", and again we find a song pretty much out of its subgenre really, being led in on thick organ and mostly keyboard-based. This track does at least have a goodly amount of guitar, but there’s no way it’s anything approaching Metal. It might slide in as Pomp Rock but I think it’s very close to Progressive Rock, and there is no room anywhere in its style for Metal. Like “High upon high” on the previous album it is in fact a really great track, just totally out of place here.

So where are they now?

Again, see the other review.

Track nine: “Can’t say no to you” by Quartz

Quartz came out of the mean streets of Birmingham around the mid-seventies, and at that time there was one man anyone in a band was bound to bump into. Yes, that pop rocker hated of so many metallers, Jeff Lynne. Guitarist Mick Hopkins worked with Lynne in The Idle Race, before the man who would later mastermind ELO moved on to, um, The Move. Quartz released three albums, and are still together.

A fist-pumping anthem, this is taken from their second album, “Stand up and fight”, but though it’s hard enough the vocals are totally wimpy, more on the side of Rod Stewart or maybe David Coverdale than Ronnie James Dio. Good track though, edges into AOR territory more than once.

So where are they now?

Quartz reformed in 2011 after twenty-eight years apart to play a reunion gig. No new material was forthcoming, and so far their 1983 album “Against all odds” remains their last release.

Track nine: “Hold on” by Xero

Another band we introduced in the previous review. This is much more like it! After an almost doomy, grindy opening it kicks into a Maiden-style high tempo rocker with some exquisite guitar and some fine bass lines. Very commercial in its way, quite catchy but still heavy and rocky. One of the better tracks on the album. Yeah, even including Diamond Head. Unfortunately. as this was the B-side of that “dodgy” single featuring Bruce Dickinson which I mentioned in the review of their track on “Metal for Muthas Vol II” it’s very hard to get your hands on. Should have been a classic.

So where are they now?

See previous review.

Track eleven: “Day to day” by Cryer

Okay, well other than that they were also from Birmingham I can find no information about this band. Seems this was their only single, and track. Speaking of which:

Yeah. Thought I had it, till that annoying message came up: “This video does not exist.” Seems there’s no trace left of them, even their music.

So where are they now?

Your guess is as good as mine. Even the internet doesn’t know!

Track twelve: “Black queen” by May West

Oh this will be fun! No doubt Google will constantly ask me “did you mean Mae West?” No I bloody didn’t! Oh, and it’s a round dessert cake with cream filling, apparently! Ah, I give up! Can I find the track?

Yes, that’s what I said. The track. Is there an echo in here? Did someone bring their pet parrot in? Do we --- Forget it. I can’t find it either. What a crock!

So where are they now?

Will you stop asking me that? I told you, I don’t know!!!

Sorry about that. The unavailability of many of these last few tracks, coupled with a total dearth of information about them, shows I suppose the lack of impact their music had on the Metal scene in general, and on the NWOBHM in particular. However it isn’t all doom and gloom; as we saw, some of these bands went on to do quite well, and some are still around today. In contrast to the bulk of those heard on “MFM2” I think the odds swung a lot more in favour of the vast majority of these bands, whereas those on the previous one largely disappeared into obscurity.

TRACKLISTING

1. It's electric (Diamond Head)
2. Brain damage (Fist)
3. Let it rip (Raven)
4. Gotta get back to you (Prowler)
5. Fantasia (Sledgehammer)
6. Breakdown (Colin Towns)
7. Earthquake at the Savoy (Mick Underwood)
8. Back to the grind (White Spirit)
9. Can't say no to you (Quartz)
10. Hold on (Xero)
11. Day to day (Cryer)
12. Black Queen (May West)

So perhaps “Brute force” was the way to go in the end huh? Other than for Cryer, Xero, Quartz, Sledgehammer, May West…

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Pet_Sounds

Imhotep must be named after the ancient Egyptian medicine man.

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

The Batlord

I'd have gone with Judas Priest's "All Guns Blazing". I love Saxon, but at least up until Metalhead (which is the last modern Saxon album I listened to) they were kind of dull. Their guitarist just doesn't have any of the swagger or the killer riffs needed to set off Biff's vocals, so they come off as sterile. The guitarist doesn't do too bad with speed metal riffs though, but when he slows down his lack of personality becomes obvious. Hopefully they've fixed that or dropped him since.

That's one of my fav Anthrax songs though. Totally underrated. That album is also my fav vocal performance by Joey Belladonna. He went for a more punk approach after that album, but on Spreading the Disease he just goes full on Bruce Dickinson, with enough cheese thrown in to make it the ultimate sing-along metal album. It's not as well written as Among the Living, but it still might be my fav from Anthrax.

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The Batlord

I'm not worried. There's absolutely zero chance you'll like anything about Gnaw Their Tongues. If you can stay above fifty percent until the end I'll give you my computer.

And The Varangian Way isn't an old legend (though apparently "Cursed Be Iron" is based on an on old Finnish legend), it's a story the band wrote themselves. And "The Miklagard" overture is about the narrator entering Constantinople, just FYI. I can't think of many songs that evoke that kind of grandeur. Brilliant ending to that album. Their next album, Stand Up and Fight, tells the second half of the story.

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Frownland

I've been checking the updates for the GTT review alone. Gnaw Their Tongues, stat.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

The Batlord

There's a distinct possibility that Trollheart will be left catatonic, in which case we will never know the truth.

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