Completist FWOSHM-collectors could definitely do a lot worse than
checking out this prog/HM crossover thingie. "Allt Vi Begär"
("All We Ask") comes crammed with really aggressive
Metal riffing seldom heard in a release this early, as well as really
weak and poppy parts mandatory of the genre. Some of those quirky
harmony-breaks are awesome though. "Öbergs Präster"
("The Priests of Öberg[?]") is more prog than
hard rock, not entirely without some decent, heavier moments but
hardly like the MANILLA ROAD or ANGEL WITCH-style bits on the A-side.
Had the vocals not been so pissing weak and wimpy this could have
been a quite remarkable new discovery.
Rating:
- Rarity:
"Lawbreaker" is a great, heavy singalong Hard Rock tune
that DOESN'T flirt too much with the Eüröpe-clone wave
of the time. Classic HM fans should not get deterred. Another nice
surprise is that the B-side semi-ballad "Wanted Man" is
high above the piss-poor average. There's some really fine heavy
riffing at the end, giving the song some mildly epic qualities.
Go fish.
Rating:
- Rarity:
While the A-side "Destiny" is a rather clumsy and inconspicuous
hardrocker, the B-side "Wonder Why" offers some really
outstanding riffing and great solos. Heavy riff-HR without one iota
of hair-rock gayness. You could definitely do worse.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Swedish Thrash Metal - what an oxymoron... Ah well, by the early
90's it seems most of the late 80's poserisms had faded away and
some bands went looking for new ways to stay hopelessly 5 years
behind. AEON made techno-thrash of a most unoriginal and uninspiring
kind. "Missing Ground" is an orgy in chugging bay-area
boredom, but at least the B-side "Under Silence" comes
with some more interesting rhythms between the ultra-generic leads.
Thank doG for small mercies. Playing and production is ok I guess.
For rabid TESTAMENT-fans only.
Rating: - Rarity:
It seems this 3-song EP is a rather coveted FWOSHM-item and I can
only guess it's because of the impressive song titles Unfortunately
"Burn In Hell" haven't got much more to offer us than
3rd rate JUDAS PRIEST-riffs. The opening bars to "Lord Satan"
is simply astounding, but then it's back to basic nonsense-riffing
again. Not even the closing "Temple Of Metal" with it's
regurgitated, bleak SAXON-leads does much to better the picture
of this release. OK, so "In The UK" may not the most overrated
of all FWOSHM-eps - at least you get 3 full Metal/HR songs for your
cash - but they hardly belong in the top-20 league. The nasal &
constipated vocals are fucking irritating too. Listen before you
buy.
Rating:
- Rarity:
(3 without p/s)
As far as semi-ballads go, AKILLES' "passaway" could be
the best ever to turn up on a Swedish private 7". With it's
great vocal harmonies and heavy lead it actually outshines the heavier
"taste of blood" - which in turn isn't as heavy as the
title would suggest. Soundwise both songs could be the melodic leftovers
from J PRIEST's "Screaming For Vengeance", which is quite
impressive considering the late release year. The cheesy, matrix-printer
graphics it quite a turnoff though.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Now here's a real hidden Swedish Metal treasure for sure. AMBUSH
make a highly original blend of heavy, doomy Metal, moody &
esoteric hard rock like ASHBURY, WIDOW (UK) etc and 70's folksy
HR a la JETHRO TULL. The fiercely captivating and original chorus
to "Run Like Hell" could itself make the EP a certain
buy, but then you have the excellent doomster "Holy Ruler",
the woeful, melodic "Whole Man Again" and a surprisingly
good ballad closer in "Spirit Of A Fool" still waiting
for you. I'm desperately searching for a copy (digital or original)
of their full-length tape from '85, so all help is appreciated.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Mostly known for their collectable "Diary Of A Soldier"
MLP from 2 years later, this debut release outshines the 12"
with not 1 (like on the MLP) but 2 melodic Metal cuts good enough
for anyone with an interest in rare FWOSHM and 8 minutes to spare.
"Better Run" has the upper hand with a pretty catchy chorus.
U dig MINDLESS SINNER, PARASITE, TORCH etc - U dig this.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Judging from the barely broken voice of the vocalist, the somewhat
corny lyrics and overall performance we're dealing with a very young
band here. This is however a perfect example of how a band has taken
this supposed weakness and used it to their advantage. This rawks!
Both songs are great, crank-it-to-11, raw & juvenile Hard Rock and
there's really not anything you'd wanna change on this EP. A 3rd,
more metallic song would have upped their rating to a 4 though.
Rating:
- Rarity:
A quite unremarkable hard rock single which for some unknown reason
still turns up on plenty of want lists. Substandard rocker "Help
Me" is paired with the semi-epic, semi-ballad, semi-decent
"Bird Of Steel". Beware of nasal vocals.
Rating:
- Rarity:
A true classic. It's hard to pick a favorite track here when both
songs are such perfect examples of heavy, driving, 1st wave Metal.
"Deathwings" is fast and energetic with roaring guitars
that just won't stop. The slower, darker "Vengeance" comes
chock-full of ANGEL WITCH/HELL-like menacing riffing and a chorus
that wants you to go out in the moonlight and slay dragons &
posers until daybreak. It's everything you ever wanted in a rare
NWOBHM gem, only it's from Sweden. They also have a number of ultra-heavy
demo recordings on their conscience, but so far no decent sounding
copies have turned up. Help!
Rating:
- Rarity:
(2 for the red/w ed.)
Well, it comes with a really neat, full-color warrior cover and
all, but musically it's far too MÖTLEY CRÜEish to be taken
seriously. "Must Get Out" is more metallic and has some
pretty heavy leads but songwise it just doesn't cut it. Disappointing.
Rating: - Rarity:
Barely worth mentioning, and only so thanx to a rather upbeat B-side
sounding somewhat like RISING FORCE or SILVER MOUNTAIN - you know,
the typical "talented melodic metal"-crap. OK, it's not
crap, it's better than a lot of the commercial tripe I've had to
wade through when researching for this list, but compared to the
excellent, mid-80's demo track I got off some radio show it's pretty
superfluous. Their debut 7" from 10 years earlier is awful
poppy rock/HR and should be avoided at all costs.
Rating: - Rarity:
Until recently this band was only known (well..) for a more commercial
7" released in '89. While this debut might not be the heaviest
of the heavy, it's still not as wimpy as the major part of the Swedish
hard rock releases of this year. "Eyes of Steel" is a
simple but charming piece of d.i.y melodic Metal. OK, so it scores
some extra points on just being pissing rare and practically unknown,
but wtf..
Rating:
- Rarity:
Possibly the best FWOSHM EP ever. Read a full review here.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Good, solid Metal for less demanding metalheads. Both songs wander
in the familiar 80's footsteps of classic bands like MAIDEN, PRIEST,
HEAVY LOAD and whatnot. Comes with a great, heavy guitar sound,
that unfortunately is slightly out of tune. Were it not for this
little fuck-up I might have shared certain other individual's constant
praise of this typical 3-out-of-5'er.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Despite
the promises of good NWOBHM-like contents from the 2nd volume of
the Swedish HR/HM Encyclopedia, this turned out to be a slight disappointment.
The mellow, poppy hard rock of "Hej Vill Du" ("hi do you wanna..") is not my
idea of a good time to spend my valuable 3 minutes. Luckily "Säg
Mig" ("tell me")is heavier and pretty decent metalrock, but who's got
time for "decent" these days?
Rating:
- Rarity:
A rather anonymous, sleeveless Pang Rec. 7" which took
a few spins for me to enjoy. "Angel Eye" is pretty upbeat,
typical early 80's HR/HM reminding me of Ozzy's "Crazy Train"
while B-side "Black Heart" is more energetic. Call me
a pretentious art-phag but a picture sleeve would have enhanced
the experience substantially.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Pretty fucking perfect, catchy and melodic Hard Rock totally devoid
of commercial aor-schmalz - how rare is that? The chorus to "Lovely
Rain" will stick in yer head for days and days and days and
days, and the slower yet heavy flipside ain't exactly ka-ka either.
High-class musicianship, superb vocals and good production are only
frosting on this very tasty croissant of rock. They also had an
outstanding track on the local
compilation Musik I SkellefteƄ 2 in '82. Too bad we will never
ever find originals of any of these releases lest it rainest refrigerators
in hell.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Inconspicuous 70's Heavy, very Purple-influenced but thankfully
without the hammond organ. The boogie rock of "Another Day
Gone" is hardly a promise of greater things to come. Let's
give 'em another try.
Rating: - Rarity:
Here we see this Swedish/British (Switish?) co-op slowly taking
its first steps into what was later to be labeled 'prime-era NWOBHM'.
"Self Made Suicide" sound like a modernized version of
their debut 7" A side, i.e. still very 70's sounding but with
some extra, early 80's bite to it. Listening to the heavy "Sister
Syne" it's obvious that a beefier, more dynamic production
would have done both songs more justice.
Rating:
- Rarity:
E.F. BAND - DEVIL'S EYE/COMPRENDE 7" 1980
Now we're getting somewhere! While they never got as outstandingly
brilliant as their "Metal For Muthas" contribution, this
is still a great piece of early Metal to look out for, mostly thanx
to the ultra-heavy instrumental "Comprende", one of E.F.
BAND's finest moments I'd say. The A side Hard Rock standard also
stand proud among it's competitors. There's more goodies to be found
on their 2 first, easy-to-locate albums, so don't let this mucho
underrated band pass you by.
Rating:
- Rarity:
(1 - Mercury pressing)
There's really not that much to get excited about here. EXCITERS
play the kind of amateurish, substandard Metal/HR that gave the
Pang Records label it's bad name. The songs may be long and full
of riffs and stuff and this and that, but the headbanging just don't
wanna kick off if you know what I mean. "Metal Man" is
the better of the 2 tracks, with one or two cool parts, but there's
just too much debris in there that avert the attention from the
pretty mean chorus. Should you however find a copy with a picture
sleeve you should get down on your knees and thank your deity of
choice for his/her mercy bestowed upon you.
Rating:
- Rarity:
(3 without p/s)
Superb Epic Doom Metal which you can read a longer review of here.
Rating:
- Rarity:
The first thing that struck me when hearing FLAME is how the vocalist
sound so much like SPARKS' Russell Mael I couldn't help but laugh.
Luckily I'm a huge SPARKS fan, so no complaints here. "No Road
To Heaven" is a growing piece of pomp HR pretty similar to
Brits SARACEN's more straightforward moments. There's plenty of
keyboards involved, but it comes with the overall style, so I'll
rest my veto this time around. "Lone Wolf Song" is more
lightweight DEEP PURPLE and a pretty sucky song at that. Qualitywise,
and as far as Pang Records singles go, this one lands somewhere
in the middle.
Rating:
- Rarity:
I just can't write anything smart or clever about the theme song
of this the best FWOSHM band ever. It's too perfect. So, the vocals
may be even more expressionless than on their outstanding debut
12", but apart from that everything about this song is
very very much greater than great; the riffing, the chorus, the
way it goes totally epic in the 2nd half of the song and that incredible
singalong part at the end - everything is just bloody flawless.
Anyone who calls himself a Metal fan and claims he doesn't like
this song can go fuck themselves. Really. No joke here. Just fuck
off. On the other hand I might not share certain other GC fans'
fascination with the B side. It's good solid HM, but no top-10 material
compared to all the other masterpieces this band has produced. Is
it perhaps my turn to fuck off now?
Rating:
- Rarity:
If it weren't for the fact that the man is rumored to still be alive,
I'd have guessed it was Ronnie James Dio screaming from the grave
in question. Not as much because of the vocal style as the music,
which is heavily Dio-inspired. We're talking about the fastest,
most metallic parts of Dio's career here, so the brilliant "Screaming.."
will surely impress all fans of proud early 80's Metal - keys or
no keys. If only the B-side hadn't felt so much like a commercial
cop-out I'd proclaim it a classic. Now you don't really know what
to make of the band as a whole.
Rating:
- Rarity:
For having such an incredibly silly title, "Love Heart"
is a positive surprise. A grrrreat guitar sound coupled with
a pretty generic yet tasty lead is just enough to commence the banging
of this particular metalhead on a better day. Kudos for burying
the keys really low in the mix too, guys! "Take Cover"
comes with more of that simple yet heavy riffing, this time on horseback.
A double-A-side curiosity well worth looking for.
Rating:
- Rarity:
This really isn't as amateurish as you'd expect from a seldom mentioned
Pang-band with a punk-sounding name. It surely is well written,
competent, early 80's HR/NWOHM, but the rock'n'roll bits takes up
too much space in my opinion, especially on the B-side, which reminds
me of the least exciting parts of KISS c:a '75. Forgettable.
Rating: - Rarity:
All Hail DOOOOM And All Things Doooomy And Such! "Birth"
may not be the slowest of the slow, but as a whole HELS are easily
categorized as 80's Doom Metal, quite similar to contemporaries
NEMESIS or MERCY. "Death" on the other hand is slow Doom
in its most true form, with some nifty touches of M FATE thrown
in for good measure. The only thing that makes them less than Totally
Essential is that the songs themselves aren't that memorable. Songwise
I prefer their 2 contributions on the "Klipp-Rock" compilation
from 2 years later, even if their style had shifted to more traditional
HM by then. There's however no reason why this shouldn't be on the
want lists of all classic Doom fans.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Don't believe the hype. They may have had HEAVY LOAD-vocalist Eddy
Malm on vocals on this debut 7", but mere name dropping just
doesn't cut it when it comes to Metal. Qualitywise it may not be
crap, but musicwise this belongs in the late 70's hard rock category
with too many feel-good boogie vibes for the average Metalfanatic
to handle. B-side "Roumers" (sic) is the better one of
the 2 featured tracks - a pretty listenable piece despite being
shamelessly mellow. The 2nd 7" from 1980 is aor and therefor
completely off-topic.
Rating: - Rarity:
In '84 they released one of the most underrated Swedish Metal LPs
ever, "Taste Of Death". Of course the mandatory, private
& über-rare debut single should slay and indeed it does.
The ominous countdown intro intermingles perfectly with the first
beautiful bars if this rawer, premiere recording of the song and
it really isn't until you hear this version that you realize what
a fucking phenomenal, atmospheric piece it is. "Nuclear Nightmare"
is less instant, but full of dark, metallic energy and who doesn't
want an extra exclusive song to add to the meager HIROSHIMA-discography
anyway?
Rating:
- Rarity:
HOROSCOPE was the late Andrija Veljaca's first band before he teamed
up with the TURBO-guys to form MERCY. Not to speak ill of the dead,
but the lyrics/vocals to "Gryningen" ("The Dawn")
is fucking hilarious. If you know Swedish that is. I'm not gonna
ruin your impression of the man, so there will not be a translation
here. Instead I'll just inform you that this single contains 2 heavy,
riff-driven hardrockers straight outta some suburb garage. Rather
charming in all its minimalist, amateurish glory but there sure
is better releases from this era to look out for.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Heavier than we're used to from a release this late but not exactly
riveting Power Metal if you know what I mean. Driving rockmetal
with a slight Guns&Stadiums-feel, yet still with one foot out
of the sleaze mudpit. Christer Åsell from the demo/7"
days of 220 VOLT handled the vocals and apparently did a better
job then than he's doing now with the reincarnation of 220V. Or
so I've been told.
Rating:
- Rarity:
One of the heavier Platina releases and surely one of the better
ones. "King of the Sea" is upbeat, straightforward Metal
with a pleasant singalong chorus, reminding me of some old Swedish
pop/punk song I can't remember the title of, thank doG, Nothing
incredibly remarkable, but still a perky thumbs-up piece
of Swedish Steel. So far they unfortunately fall in the one-hit-wonder
category since no demos have emerged and the B-side is an unhappening
semi-ballad filler.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Great proto-FWOSHM is what we get from JEREMIAH's seldom mentioned
7". A-side "Bluff-Stop" (um, some game of cards I
really don't know how to translate) is an intriguing track in that
it manages to be both traditional Heavy Hard Rock and still quite
original with it's steady, driving beat and excellent leads. "Lost
in Lund" continues with more heavy, metallic riffs albeit a
tad to mellow on the chorus. All in all a very charming piece of
early Swedish Hard Rock history.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Without a doubt one of the best, most talented and professional
releases of the Pang label ...but who gives a fuck about 'talent'
and 'professionalism' really? What matters is the fact that both
songs are outstanding examples of classic, 1st rate NewWhaveOfWherever-Metal.
Åke's vocals may sport some tonal imperfections on the bridge
of "One Of Two", but it matters little in the greater
schemes of things. Heavy, energetic, clever and brilliant song writing
all the way. 'Nuff said really.
Rating:
- Rarity:
(3 without p/s)
High-class melodic Metal with great fem vox and, since it's featured
in this article, not much of that vile, commercial gunk that ruined
the major part of its contemporaries. Believe it or not, but neither
of the songs are a ballad! Yup, just 2 great-yet-not-totally-amazing
HM songs well worth a few extra months of tradelist googling and/or
eBay surfin'.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Woooooaaaahh!! Check out that awesome artwork! How can a 7"
not rock with a sleeve like that? Yes, it's heavy all right. The
guitar sound is awesome. Slightly donwtuned and really fucking mean.
The lead-heavy, pounding "Fighting Man" is impressive
at first listening, but once you get over the initial awe of said
guitars you realize that there really isn't much to the song itself.
The silly, happy-go-lucky pop-chorus of "People Wanna Know"
is kinda amusing, but it so happens that amusement is not my main
goal when playing Metal music, so no extra stars there, guys. Overall
it's rather amateurish stuff, with weak, 'Swenglish' vocals. Such
a pity...
Rating:
- Rarity:
Behind this godawful band name and song title lurks a great Heavy
Metal standard bound to bring smiles and good fortune to all fans
of the classic PRIEST/SAXON/SCORPIONS sound. Unfortunately the flip
is another weak attempt at radio-friendly, singalong, clap-your-hands,
blow-me-after-the-show-baby balladism :(
Rating:
- Rarity:
There's something special going on here. I can't quite put my finger
on it, maybe it's ...talent? MANIAC clearly had the X-factor to
bring them above the average mid-80's melodic Metal produced in
Sweden. After a sloppy piano intro going on a bit too long for comfort
we're presented with very competent, driving melodic HM, boosted
with a more than competent chorus. "Beauty Queen" grows
with every listening and while "Take It Awake" isn't quite
as special it's still a heavy enough companion to the A-side hit.
No, I can't go on praising this 7" too much. It would only
diminish the possibilities of myself scoring a copy in the future.
Rating:
- Rarity:
With the possible exception of a certain discolored farmyard animal,
this single counts as the first ever Thrash Metal vinyl release
in Sweden. That alone deserves some credit, considering the pretty
much stone dead Thrash climate of our country back in the days.
However, I wouldn't have given this a full 5-sword rating if weren't
for the fact that "The Barbarian" is a fucking rabid,
reptilian beast of a song! UNboring mid-pace crunchy Thrash
meets proud Viking-Metal in a seldom heard marriage of perfection!
The Speed/Power Metal of "Ripper Attack" is perhaps not
as memorable, but it does an ample job of matching the weight of
the A-side. And yes, this EP does indeed slay their rather average
LP from '86.
Rating:
- Rarity:
One of the rarest Pang releases but hardly one of better ones. "Stand
Back" has a pretty good harmony solo somewhere in the middle
going for it, but apart from that it shouldn't inspire any big spending
from the average collector, even if the guitars sound really heavy
and all. The B-side is an original piece. Not all-out weird, but
it's got these oozing aaah's and breaks and stuff, making it sound
like some clever 70's hard rock. They should have concentrated on
getting the riffing right instead.
Rating:
- Rarity:
(3 without p/s)
I can't quite make up my mind about NAGAZAKI. At one hand they're
pretty heavy, classic Metal in the old RIOT or TRESPASS-tradition,
on the other hand they're really mellow and 'uppety', kinda like
THIN LIZZY in a sunshine mood. While they were definitely a very
talented band that deserved going on to greater things, I'm just
not sure if I would have joined their fan club.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Even I made the mistake once of letting this 7" pass me by
in the belief that it was just another lame pop/new wave band. Why
shouldn't we? It comes cluttered with random letters known as that
muppet-language 'Swedish' and how Metal is that? Inte mycket. Well,
if we do a little creative translation we instead come up with:
BLACK AS NIGHT - THE WOLVES/EYE OF THE DRAGON 7" 1982.
Did that catch your attention? Good, coz this is really ravaging
Metal, faster and harder than most from this year and while the
song compositions might not be the most advanced there's enough
dark energy here to thrash your living room many times over. Another
exotic curiosity to misspell for your want list.
Rating:
- Rarity:
While their full-length LP counts as one of the rarest Swedish HM/HR
12" releases together with SAVAGERS, DETEST and labelmates BOOM SHANKER GROUP, this their debut
single is slightly easier to locate. And well worth the trouble
I might add, since the LP versions of the tracks comes with the
trademark Büms Records 'quality'. OK, so the A side might lean
a bit too far in the mellow, radio-friendly direction, but B-side
"Run Away" belongs in the absolute top-league of Swedish
melodic Metal. The chorus is a feast in shameless catchiness bound
to bring all skeptics to their knees. Trust me, you'll like it too.
Rating:
- Rarity:
A simply superb and very early example of REAL Swedish Heavy Metal
that I wrote a longer
review of ages ago.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Mr. Stark must excuse me, but in my opinion this single overshadows
anything by his/their later OVERDRIVE incarnation, at least as far
as songwriting goes. Even while drenched in loud keyboards, "Caress
of Steel" is still a magnificent, pompish Hard Rock tune. The
slower, heavier "Coming Home" is just about as outstanding
with a solid 70's oozing lead. The shoddy cover art and juvenile
vocals may give an amateurish first impression, but after a few
spins you'll be able to put such irrelevant issues aside and fully
enjoy this little gem.
Rating:
- Rarity:
I know some have tried to pigeonhole PUBLIKFÖRAKT AB (AUDIENCE
CONTEMPT INC.) as punk, but I'm pretty sure that upon hearing
the 3rd rate JUDAS PRIEST-leftoves of "Young Rebel", any
devoted, old-school punk fan would frown upon this and shout "fuckin'
lame metal, man!". And rightly so. The A-side "Night
of Horror" is harder to categorize. It sounds like a typical
first-ever-written song of a young band who liked their rock hard,
but didn't quite know on which leg to stand on. Thankfully the harmony
soloing at the end will attract the hardrockers just as fast as
the punks will run in the other direction.
Rating: - Rarity:
(2 without p/s)
There must have been hundreds of band around this time period playing
weak and watered down boogie rock to their close circle or friends
down at the pub on Wednesday nights. Logic dictates that some bands
had to be considerably heavier than others, and some of them heavy
and raw enough to be pushed into the perimeters of Hard Rock/Heavy
Metal. Thereabout is where we find QUINZY. The opening bars to "Rosie"
sound pretty darn metallic, then it deteriorates into a ballad with
some heavier bridges and breaks. Nothing overly exciting. "Boogie"
is (surprise surprise) boogie rock, but it's a really fast and raw
piece and you got to give them some credit for not playing it too
safe. 2 years later they turned up on the "Made in GBG"
compilation
with 2 lame, pop/rock songs so this story ended in tears.
Rating:
- Rarity:
"Speed" is a promising opener on this early 4-tracker,
sounding like sloppy RAVEN or SLEDGEHAMMER, boosted by neat wah-wah
bass and fuzzed out guitars. From thereon it's all downhill. If
they'd just stuck with the standard 2-song format, possibly with
the tolerable, supergeneric heavy rocker "Let me go with you"
as the B-side, QUIX could have produced something of a cult classic,
but since "It will be all right." and "Please don't go" are such
fucking awful, derisive trash, they totally ruin the feel of this
their one and only shot at FWOSHM immortality.
Rating: - Rarity:
A bit of an oddball, this one. Not musically though. R & R is
melodic Scandinavian Metal straight from the blueprints, with the
heavier "The Way of Evil" being the pick of the pair metalwise.
There's some curious start-stop parts and slightly unconventional
twists and turns, but still performed in a very coherent hard rock
manner. The oddity lies in everything else, the weird band name,
the unmetallic layout (note the accordion!) and most of all the
primitive, fuzzy production and mix. Sounds like the studio engineer
was more into lo-fi post punk than any sort of headbanging material,
something that R & R's career must have suffered for in the
end.
Rating:
- Rarity:
With such a microscopic Thrash scene as the one we had in the 80's
I guess beggars can't be choosers, right? Well, RAVING MAD certainly
weren't bad. If you're into early MEGADETH and the Bay Area sound
I guess you'll be into the A-side of this bands debut 7" too.
The real treat here on the other hand is the excellent Power Metal
flipside "Cryin'", mixing METAL CHURCH style riffing with
a superb, catchy chorus worthy of the most overhyped of US Metal
concoctions. Too bad the generic title track proved to be the most
representative of the bands overall sound, judging from their later
material.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Until a few years ago this was a totally unknown release, until
a band member started unloading a box of copies that had been collecting
dust in his closet for close to 20 years. Last I heard they were
all gone, so don't come bugging me for details, OK? Content: Low-rate,
unoriginal Metal from junior high school kids. No magic here. No
lost epic masterpieces, no incredible riffing the world forgot,
no esoteric band history of cults and suicide pacts, just 2 underproduced,
poorly executed Metal standards with weak vocals. ACCEPT and IRON
MAIDEN were obviously major influences so if you, like me, got a
weak spot for this particular sound I'd say they're still worth
a listen. But just barely so.
Rating:
- Rarity:
This their first indie release comes with that extra kick of energy
and youthfulness that is very much needed when you're set on conquering
the world with plainer than plain Hard Rock music. No, not the barrage
of power chords and unforgettable songwriting one would prefer,
but at least they played it like they meant it. Subsequent major
label releases (one 7" + one MLP) felt a notch too slick and
conformist for me to waste bits on.
Rating:
- Rarity:
I was under the distinct impression that the band MADISON were totally
gay on all fronts. Turns out they had the good taste of releasing
a private 7" under a different name before traveling down the
path to that special place in hell where all weak Eüröpe-clones
now burns in incredible agony forever. OK, so they do sound a bit
like EUROPE here too, but the early, slightly heavier period before
they ruined the Swedish Metal scene for generations. B-side = ballad.
Be sure to scratch it good with a razor so you won't put it on by
mistake, should you ever acquire a copy.
Rating:
- Rarity:
"Well-played", "well-produced" and "well-written"
hard rock. And pretty fucking boring too, despite the loud, larger-than-life
attitude. Apparently they also had a very rare 12" out one
year later but I don't care. I hope their black leather jackets
got stolen after the photo-shoot.
Rating: - Rarity:
Man was I happy to stumble across this one. While their more common
'86 EP was commercial garbage, the lesser know and bloody rare debut
EP is another story entirely. RENEGADE obviously liked NWOBHM back
then and we still do. A-side "Beautiful People" may be
an AC/DC-influenced, mediocre hardrocker, but turn it over and we're
in NWOBHM-heaven (or at least the fancier parts of limbo) with "Killer
in the Sky", a really cool cut for lovers of bands like GRIM
REAPER, early TOKYO BLADE and so forth. After sitting through the
35 seconds acoustic fluff of "Leviticus" there's more
of that tasty British-sounding steel for us in the closing title
track "Rock 'til You Die". Hearing this you almost want
to believe them, but then you have that limpwristed later EP working
as evidence against them. Liars!
Rating:
- Rarity:
Gothic letter logo and flying V guitar on cheap b/w sleeve should
be a good sign, right? Ahem, well... "Light A Light" is
a simply awful schmallad and once again I wonder what kind of a
deranged mind ever came up with the idea that a ballad would be
a great introduction to a new band? Twat! At least "Want You
Back" is a real song, sounding pretty promising until
the awful pop chorus takes a crap in your ear canal. Don't be fooled.
Rating: - Rarity:
Kick-ass NWOBHM-oozing stuff and a perfect match with that killer
sleeve. "Metal Bird" has all the characteristics of a
Heavy Metal classic: speedy, hectic riffing, raw guitars and wooh-oh'ing
chorus. The B-side could have been another ballad train wreck with
such a title, but no siree, not this time around. Not as
instant as side A, this chugging, uptempo piece proves that RISING
belonged with the good guys.
Rating:
- Rarity:
An extremely rare, early oddity in Swedish Hard Rock. "Ge Och
Ta" ("Give And Take") is a great, catchy rocker
in the THIN LIZZY-vein, almost popish without wimping out or loosing
weight. The twin guitars do the trick. The slower flipside should
be unlistenable with that reggae drum beat, but in some weird way
it still works, mostly thanx to a pretty nifty chorus and the absence
of those new wave-style sounds so often accompanied by them rubba-dub-dubbings.
(There - eradicated this baby from all future HR/HM want lists
simply by mentioning the P and R-words. Kinda sad really...)
Rating:
- Rarity:
In a time when every Swedish metalhead and his dog played unoriginal,
overrated Death Metal, SACRED NIGHT decided to release a private
7" of classic style Metal. This makes them worthy of mucho
kudos of course, but don't get all excited just yet coz "Demo-lishan
Project" is still a disappointment. There's really not one
memorable second of music on here and I can honestly say I wouldn't
have been any more forgiving had it come out in '83 and not '93.
The MAIDEN-influence is very obvious, but sadly performed in an
extremely amateurish and watered down way. "Freeman" could
have been great with more energetic, more enthusiastic musicians,
but SACRED NIGHT played it like their mommys forced them to do it.
Rating:
- Rarity:
I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this is the
ultimate Swedish Metal 7" want list topper. I think it boils
down to the fact that it became an 'official collector's item' relatively
early and is now often seen on many old collector's all-time faves
lists. It seems like every last copy sailed off to Japan, Germany
or USA long ago, coz in the last 5 years I can't say I've ever seen
it offered anywhere. So is it really that good? Hm, well,
it's certainly very classy/classic Scanda-Metal in the same style
and league as PROUD, SADWINGS and HIROSHIMA. Neither of the 2 songs
are however a match for the bestest pieces of those bands, or the
killer "You Better Run" from their METAL MUTHAS demo days.
To deserve all that hype a 3-track EP with that last one would have
been preferred.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Is that some new, hip line of clothing nowadays? I can hardly
imagine the brats I see down town wearing Savage Skulls-logos on
their satin jackets to be long lost members of these Piteå-thrasher's
fan club. 'Tis been written that this band was supposed to be Doom
Metal, so naturally I searched long and hard for this single before
a muddy CDR-copy turned up on my doorstep. OK, it's really heavy
and mean stuff, but hardly Doom. I'm having trouble coming over
my initial disappointment with this, so I cannot fully enjoy they
rather competent, mid-paced chugging, despite the decent riffing
and all. Megadeth-fans can keep an eye open, I'm off to play my
FAITH-demos one more time before nap time.
Rating:
- Rarity:
The titles say it all really. A more commercial HR A-side topped
by an excellent piece of melodic, proud Metal on the flip. Very
Maidenesque and yummy and such, but which side represented their
true colors? No demos are known, so file under 'headscratchers'.
Rating:
- Rarity:
10 years ago you might have been able to track down a copy of this
7", but since then a certain collector-mistake seem to have
totally eradicated it from the face of the earth. You see, for many
years this single was thought to be of British origin, resulting
in it being completely engulfed by the manic NWOBHM-collector fringe.
And do you think these greedy bastards now acknowledge their mistake
and willingly return this baby to its country of origin and its
starving collectors? Ha! OK, I can't really blame them. This is
great, classic Metal and indeed very British-sounding. Even the
semi-ballad A-side is more than merely listenable.
Rating:
- Rarity:
"Doubt" is a very unique, very melancholic piece
of early melodic HR. Pretty classy musicianship and songwriting
skills here, definitely a grower and very far from happy-go-lucky
gAy.O.R. It's however the B-side "Connection" that truly
impress. We're talking top-class, total NWOBHM-style HM/HR in the
style of classics like TRESPASS, GEDDES AXE, ANGEL WITCH etc with
some superb harmony soloing at the end. Vocalist Lars Hägglund
is a deadringer for Kevin Heybourne and after a few listenings I've
come to notice how the song ("Connection") actually reminds
me of AW's "Hades Paradise" at times. Highly recommended!
Rating:
- Rarity:
Rather atypical Swedish Metal this, sounding a lot like early M
FATE or ANGEL WITCH. What keeps them from reaching the greatness
of, lets say, BEHEMOTH is the constipated vocals of Piotr Jastrzebski
which drags the whole band down to an undeserving, amateurish level.
I'm still very thankful for every second of Swedish steel this heavy,
so of course I cannot un-recommend it. I could have done
without the terribly out-of-tune solo at the end of "Sneaking
Around" though. That aside it's a really fine piece of doomy
Metal to keep your eyes open for.
Rating:
- Rarity:
The A-side is a pretty lame attempt at commercial HR fame &
fortune made even more intolerable by slightly out-of-tune fem vox.
The single gets saved from the dung-heap by a very sturdy lead-riff
in the heavier B-side. It's OK shit, no more - no less.
Rating:
- Rarity:
No serious collector of early Metal contraband should be unfamiliar
with this FWOSHM milestone. Save HEAVY LOAD's legendary '78 album
debut, this 7" is the first Swedish example of the new wave
of Heavy Metal appearing on vinyl. 2 superb pieces of oldest school
HM with a heavy RAINBOW influence (surprise surprise) well worth
the hype is what you get for your 100-200 euros it usually goes
for. Jonas Hansson's slightly nasal vocals drags down the rating
a notch for me though. Yes, it's cocking rare, but copies do appear
rather frequently anyway since it's a well known collectors item,
keeping many a dealers' eyes peeled. Beware of bootlegs and xerox
covers.
Rating:
- Rarity:
SLAM went from slightly offbeat HC/crossover on the first LP
and subsequent EP, via this metallized offering and then back to
original crossover on their last LP in '87. So why bother with this
obviously 'un-true' release then? Well, if you hadn't known the
musical history of the band you'd take "Tragedies!" for
an original yet fairly solid Horror Metal release, perhaps with
some mild influences from VOIVOD and early 80's goth. Sounds weird?
No, it's really not that bad or off-topic, and certainly no HC-influences
to be heard. I like it. So shoot me.
Rating:
- Rarity:
SPITFIRE's 15 minutes of fame are limited to 2 featured tracks on
the first volume of Scandinavian Metal Attack, the compilation series
mostly famous for featuring the first ever vinyl appearance of BATHORY.
Significantly more obscure is this very rare, sleeveless Pang Records
release from the year before. While "Heavy Rock'n'Roller"
may seem like an inconspicuous hard rock standard at first glance,
this really is superb, traditional NWOBHM born in the wrong country.
What a classic this could have been if only they'd put another heavy
cut on the B-side instead of a sentimental, pompous you-know-what.
Rating:
- Rarity:
This is about as rare as it gets FWOSHM-wise, but don't get your
leather undies in a bundle just yet. This is nothing more than 3rd
rate AC/DC worship done a million times before. Nothing wrong with
a little old AC/DC every now and then, but have you ever
heard an 80's AC/DC-clone that didn't bore you to tears? Didn't
think so. "Rock in Hell" is an OK tune, mostly thanks
to some more aggressive STOOGES riffing thrown into the mix and
the guitars in "You don't fool me" are clearly up to something
good, but only if you can stand a boogie-break or two and I sure
as hell can't. Sorry folks, it never got better than their 2 songs
on the "Heavy
Metal" comp. LP and even that pig would barely fly. You
can have a quick listen at their songs on their website
and judge for yourself.
Rating: - Rarity:
Promising artwork - disappointing music. First time? HA HA HA HA!!
S.A. wants to be wild and raunchy L.A.-metal and proudly
proclaim how "we're gonna rock your braiiiiins out!"
but they don't. They fail. They're limp, lifeless and totally without
punch. And the B-side schmallad suck. Despite being heavier than
most bands appearing in this genre a few years later they're still
a failure on all fronts. STEEL ARROWS! - YOU FAILED METAL
WHEN IT NEEDED YOU THE MOST! METAL DOES NOT TAKE IT LIGHTLY
WHEN PEOPLE FAIL HIM! WATCH YOUR BACKS! 20+ YEARS IS NOTHING
WHEN YOU GOT A BEEF WITH METAL!
Rating: - Rarity:
One of the earlier examples of full-blown Heavy Metal from my home
country. Pretty basic stuff really, very NWOBHM-sounding of course,
falling somewhere between HOLLOW GROUND and SAXON soundwise. The
production is pretty edgy and in-your-face, which gives the A-side
some needed extra push in the Metal direction. Once again it's the
B-side that dominates. "Touchin' The Stars" is a superb,
galloping piece of steel with a proud, swordwaving chorus. It's
safe to say that the spooky cover shot of the band clad in black
leather by some cemetery gates keeps it's promises. Pick this one
up at the first opportunity, but beware of their late 80's aor disaster.
Rating:
- Rarity:
The b/w samurai-painting on the cover will grab your attention,
no doubt. How lucky then that you came across this review which
will now warn you that it won't get any better than the warmed over,
TOPT-leftover, boogie-metal mess of "Dom Kan Dra" ("They
Can Scram"). The boogie continues on the flipside, but
the 'Metal' seems to have fallen off the hayride. A division of
Timewasters Ltd.
Rating: - Rarity:
A formerly unknown release that has been showing its ugly (?) face
rather frequently lately. Melodic but hardly commercial Metal is
what we're presented with here. It could have been awesome were
it not for the youngster's clear lack of musical skills, vocals
included. IMO, the more melodic and harmony-driven the material,
the more of an issue this weakness proves to be. "Uncanny Night"
is the heaviest composition and saves the day with some nice Maidenesque
moments.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Quite a colorful release, this. And the vinyl was pink if I remember
correctly. Or maybe green? Or blue? Fuck it. In any case it leaves
a bad taste in you mouth even before putting it on the turntable
and once you get that far things hardly improve. Run-of-the-mill
melodic metal which may not be the gayest of the gay but still rather
boring and bland. And another abysmal ballad B-side was NOT what
the doctor ordered!
Rating: - Rarity:
Melodic yet not too wimpy Hard Rock that's way better than it's
reputation ("reputation"?! what reputation??).
Both songs have these cool, laid-back, atmospheric qualities that
makes them perfect for that afterparty mix tape that lulls you to
sleep in your sofa at 5 o'clock in the morning, drunk as a punk,
happy as a lamp.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Nope, THRASHON are not 'thrashing on', they rock along in a rather
American-style melodic Metal way and they do it pretty darn good
too. "Weird, Weird World" is an eyeraiser both for it's
excellent guitar harmonies and catchy chorus, as well as being so
totally out of place and time. Fucking 1991 for doGssake! Yes, we
like the B-side too. Their very rare MLP from one year later is
an uneven affair, hardly worth the hassle. Just so you know.
Rating:
- Rarity:
With plenty of collectors of Swedish Metal about you're excused
to get a little excited when a totally unknown and unlisted title
crosses your path, especially if the logo looks totally yummy, but
then again the title of the single is "Party" and 'party'
IS NOT METAL! It's only a few grams heavier than you'd expect a
1989 hard rock song called "Party" to be (it may not be
aor, but hardly the heaviest of Metal either) and of course the
B-side is another bloody ballad. Let's pray for an even rarer '85
debut hiding out there, hopefully with titles like "Tyrant's
Castle", "The Night of the Sacrifice" and the likes.
Rating: - Rarity:
Oh my. Not much rehearsal going on in the beer place, I gather?
The opening instrumental "The Brish" is a fucking waste
of time and space right up until the end where it suddenly starts
going somewhere, and then, well, it ends. "Flirtin' With Disaster"
gets pretty charming after a few listenings though. It rocks, man.
It's... groovy? The same cannot be said about the closing number.
Songs called "Don't Break My Heart" always suck,
even when they're not ballads. Simply disastrous. Metal purists
run in the other direction.
Rating: - Rarity:
Ha ha ha! Who the hell was it who decided to release this
as a bootleg on colored vinyl together with classics like 220V,
GOTHAM CITY and SILVER MOUNTAIN?? Hey wait, I know who did
those crappy bootlegs. (Note to self: point finger and laugh next
time you visit the store.) We're talking about a new record in vocal
constipation here, to the soundtrack of some sort of pummeling hard
rock which may be called 'heavy' but so infinitely lame and monotonous
it's downright shameful. OK, the B-side "Are You Ready"
has quite a decent Metallic lead going for it, but I refuse to enjoy
it out of sheer principle. Getting Eddy Malm of HEAVY LOAD as producer
got you nowhere, kids.
Rating: - Rarity:
This was the first band of KING DIAMOND-guitarist Pete Blakk, but
why should that impress us? Everyone in the band except King himself
are a bunch of posers so who cares. TRAZER on the other hand made
pretty OK 'oldest-school', NWOwherever Heavy Metal/Hard Rock where
the leads of the B-side "Badly Reason" slightly outshines
the more rigid A-side. Uncomplicated but well performed and almost
not boring at all.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Why TREASURE never got to release more than this long lost little
Pang Rec-obscurity is undeniable proof of how clueless and downright
evil (the bad kind of evil) the Swedish label exec's were in 80's
(as opposed to present day???). This is defining Swedish
Metal at its absolute finest. "Women In Black" is a metallic
jackhammer on par with the best HEAVY LOAD compositions and "Spirit
Of The North" stays true to its name - a superb, pounding soundtrack
for your Sunday afternoon dragonship outings. A 'treasure' indeed.
Rating:
- Rarity:
(3 without p/s)
High-energy, juvenile hard rock from the kids that one year later
joined up with Andrija Veljaca to form doomsters-to-be MERCY. "Nattens
Barn" ("Children of the Night") could be an
early RAVEN rehearsal. "Asfaltsrock" ("Tarmac
Rock") keep up the pace but in an even more R'n'R fashion,
something I'd usually frown upon, but TURBO get by on charm alone.
Rating:
- Rarity:
One of the better of the early, proto-FWOSHM singles. I surprised
myself by liking the keyboard 'licks' on the poppier A-side "Häng
På" ("Come on"). It only works when
the focus is on melancholy rather than happy-go-lucky commercialism,
and here the song plods along in a nice enough, melodic THIN LIZZY
kinda way. Flipside "Arbetslös" ("Unemployed")
on the other hand represent the heaviest side of TL or those late
70's NWOBHM embryos. Truly a fudgin' great epic rocker!
Rating:
- Rarity:
UNCHAINED - QUEEN OF THE NIGHT/FIGHTING FIRE
7'' 87
It's that Purple-thing again. The 'soaring' organ follows every
guitar chord to the letter and in my ears it softens up the overall
sound a bit too much, making them sound too much like early EUROPE.
Luckily the vocals aren't quite as gay as those Defilers Of Metal,
so the end result is pretty OK. On the other hand, compared to their
killer "Victims of Paradise" from the Elva Band comp LP
both songs sound like half-decent B-sides. Vocalist Pelle Saether
now runs the well-known Underground studio in Västerås,
responsible for a sordid array of modernist 'metal'-productions
from all over the world.
Rating:
- Rarity:
A d.i.y. Thrash compilation that's hardly the Flag Of Hate I'd fly
to defend the 'superiority' of the Swedish Thrash scene in the '80s.
TRIBULATION may have been an excellent band in their prime, but
"Pecuniary Aid" from the underproduced 'Pyretic Convulsions'
demo sound even worse on this badly pressed EP. DAMIEN (yes, the
"Requiem For The Dead" MLP guys) and GRAVITY sound so
much under the international average it's downright embarrassing.
This leaves ATROCITY's very amateurish Power/Speed, and well, yeah,
if you're completely uncritical towards anything fairly fast with
a catchy chorus I guess you'll enjoy them. As a whole this is hardly
the first piece any Swedish Metal fan/collector need to throw themselves
on.
Rating:
- Rarity:
In the opening track "Plugget" ("School")
the vocalist sings about life in the 8th grade, but even to those
who don't know Swedish it should be obvious that we're dealing with
a very young band here. VAMPA were amateurs, sure, but they played
within their capabilities and therefor didn't make complete asses
of themselves. "Plugget" and "Tåget"
("The Train") are both good, sturdy riff-driven
HM, simple yet likable, with some ace screaming vocals from the
aforementioned 8thgrader. The main attraction here is however the
excellent instrumental "Blackout", a galloping scorcher
clearly influenced by IRON MAIDEN's old-time classics "Transylvania"
and "Genghis Khan". Too bad you rarely ever see copies for sale or trade.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Good stuff and heavy enough to belong in the proto-FWOSHM category
rather than the 'dated 70s heavy' ditto. Sure, it's not all-out
PRIEST/MAIDEN Heavy Metal balls, but at least "Heaven Can Wait"
makes you wanna bang your head a little. Not too hard though. Nodding
and tapping of feet count as headbanging, right?
Rating:
- Rarity:
How the hell do I explain my love for this awkward piece of Metal?
They can't play, they can't sing, the production stinks and they're
bloody White Metal to the bone. That last one is somewhat ironic
considering how "Det Var Då Han Vann" ("That's
when he won") reminds me of HELLHAMMER at their most primitive
and slow, mixed up with some MITHRANDIR for the nwobhm harmonies
and even more sloppiness. More cult & cool than anything else
I guess, but what makes this 7" such essential want list material
is the fantastic flipside "Framtid Med Hopp" ("Future
With Hope", and yes these titles sound just as corny in
Swedish). Musical skills aside, this is one superb piece of Epic
Metal greatness, the lead riff conjuring up images of behemoths
like MANILLA ROAD, LEGEND (US) and WARLORD. Yes, it really is THAT
good.
Rating:
- Rarity:
(3 without p/s)
This is Heavy! And and great too. WAGABOND were a snapshot out
of the time when them ol' 70's rockers took a glance at the emerging
punks and realized you could strip the music bare of boring, pretentious
parts and stay hard & heavy all the way. The crunchy title track
is a powerful enough piece despite it's slow tempo, but it's the
epic flipside "Wagabond" that'll make your money's worth.
This 5 min+ saga tells the tale of the band forming and I don't
think I'm totally out of line when I say that certain parts remind
me of the more epic, lengthy IRON MAIDEN-pieces. Not quite 70's
Heavy yet not quite 80's Metal, WAGABOND were a sign of great things
to come.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Yawn... "Motorcycle Man" sound like sexually ambivalent
AC/DC. "I Want You" gets a little heavier, but only by
ripping off a few old MÖTLEY CRÜE riffs which probably
weren't that original to begin with. Back in 1983 bands could actually
wear spandex & zoo-animal muscle shirts and still play ferociously
heavy stuff. Not so this time.
Rating: - Rarity:
This EP is what I would like to call a Promisekeeper. It looks awesome
- it is awesome. Furthermore it's a unique release in the
sense that it's the most genuine, late 80's, real Power Metal
7" from Sweden. I'd describe them as a slightly heavier version
of "The Unknown"-era GOTHAM CITY and both songs are lengthy,
True Fucking Metal anthems of steel. Whenever I feel like smackin'
up my inner child I remind myself of how I once owned a copy and
then traded it for some overrated 'über-rar" crap at a
W:O:A Metal Market. Ouch!
Rating:
- Rarity:
A great teen-Metal act that got to release their very own private
7" thanx to generous city/school funding. All hail Swedish
taxes and the redistribution of wealth to starving, junior-high
Metal kids! "Dollburner" is a ripping Power Metal cut
perhaps lacking some in the technical department, but not to the
point of musical ruin. "Dreams" is more melodic, thankfully
without the sour aftertaste of radio-DJ semen. 1 year later they
had their third and last recorded track featured on a local
compilation. No demos were apparently ever produced in this
young band's career.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Super-excellent, primitive, full-color artwork alert! This baby
just screams "Buy me!" and since more copies have emerged
in later years that's no longer a hopeless venture. The title track
is really great - not amazing - but really likable, melodic and
rather primitive Power Metal. Double bass drums all the way, albeit
a gear or 2 too slow. They were a young band (the vocalist was only
13 at the time!) and it shows both in their musical performance
and in the simplistic songwriting. Once again there's a B-side poprocker
dragging down the overall rating. For shame!
Rating:
- Rarity:
Another new discovery and possibly the best 'unknown super-rarity'
I've come across so far. "Mysterier" ("Mysteries")
is a deadringer for BLACK SABBATH's "Heaven and Hell"
and therefor it is also a superb, ultra-heavy epic whose lack of
originality feels totally irrelevant. The fact that B-side "Travellin'"
sounds like warmed over STATUS QUO matters little when you can play
the A-side over and over again while oogling the ultra-cult cover
art without ever getting tired of that pounding lead riff. Let's
pretend that 2nd aor 7" from '86 never happened.
Rating:
- Rarity:
The heavily PURPLE-influenced "One More Sacrifice" will
hardly impress the average Metalfanatic. Even if I've heard worse
DP-worship in my days it's way too sweetened, at least for these
bloodthirsty ears. With little anticipation I turned it over to
side B-side and fuck me if this isn't quite the little gem! I'm
having trouble describing this, but I guess YPZILON listened to
the same folksy/epic 70's stuff that BROCAS HELM did in their youth,
but went in a more traditional, hammond-fueled, lightweight direction.
It's a great song, but not quite 'Metal' if you know what I mean.
Rating:
- Rarity:
Totally outstanding, pounding 'Viking Metal' which the gods demand
you to search out this instant. Longer review here.
Rating:
- Rarity:
These are some titles that people have mentioned, asked about or which have just turned up in one way or another but which I feel doesn't fit the topic for this particular article:
BARRELHOUSE
- "Far Away/Come on Down" 79 (pure 70's HR a la Zeppelin. Not
bad though.)
BANG & OUT - "Riding The Desert Wind" 7" (not total
crap, but a bit too soft for this list)
BLACKSMITH - "Tomorrow's Mystery" 7" 86 (commercial HR
- the MLP kills though!)
CALILIO
- "Lips/I remember you" 7" 89 (1 soft HR track w/ keys + 1 incredibly
seedy ballad)
CHARITY - "In My Dreams" 7" 87 (post-WIZZARD, but commercial
crap)
CRUT - "Efter 5 Långa År/Tunnan" 7" 78 (good
& raw stuff, but belongs in 70's/garage rock cathegory)
CRYSTAL OCEAN - "Part 1" 7" EP (lame, melancholic rock)
EMPIRE SAINT - "Broken Dreams/Shout It Out" 89 (1 'power'ballad
+ 1 powerless HR cut)
FAKE - "Dreamgirl/Warlord" 7" 81 (soft & slow HR with
tons of keys - they later became a pure pop band)
GRAND SLAM - "Telephone/Strong Together" 7" 84 (feel-good,
boogie-style HR)
HADES - "Flickor Är Blinda" 7" EP 82 (various bits
of power-pop-punk-70's HR-w/-keys, kinda cute but Metal is not cute and
this is not Metal)
JAMMER - "Take Me Higher" 7" 83 (lightweight HR)
JOHANNES - "En röst i öknen" 7" (really weak
christian HR)
KAZJUROL - "Messenger Of Death" 7" '86 (crossover/HC unlike
their thrashier LP)
MASON - 7" '89 (pretty well played melodic HR, but to wimpy for The
Corroseum)
NOTREDAME - "Jagad/Ödets Timme" 7" 81 (bland, homespun
HR)
OVERLORD - "Vi kom, vi sågs, vi segrade/Kallt Ljus" 7"
82 (poppy, lightweight HR)
ROCK SET - "Piteå Kommun" 7" 79 (A side = punk rock,
B side = boogie rock - a surprisingly common combination at the time)
SIX FEET UNDER - "I'm Gonna Win" 7" 82 (dated, lightweight
Purple-style)
SOLID - s/t 7" EP 85 (booooring, Metal-free HR)
SPEEDNAUTS - "Suckers/I Can Dance" 7" 84 (quirky, offbeat
HR. Kinda funny but nothing for Metalheads)
STONEHENGE - s/t 7" EP 85 (a pure 70's bluesy HR retro act, not too
bad really but off-topic)
TRP - "My Bike/Lady of the Night" (more punk than HM from these
sloppy junior highsters I'm afraid)
TRYCKVÅG - "Stay The Night" 7" 85 (commercial crap
unlike their excellent old demos)
VIRGIN'S DELIGHT - "The first sight of.." 7" 8? (wimp crap)
ZANE - "Step Aside/Damage" 7" 76 (awesome, crushing heavy/doom/psyche/spacerock
but very much a product of the 60's/70's so I'll leave it for other sites
to review)
There's at least a dozen more 7"s worthy of inclusion on this page that I wasn't aware of when I wrote these reveiws all those years ago. The plan was always to some day upgrade to 777 Inches... Any day now...