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Many talk that GAMA Records(stormwitch,gravestone,tyrant,no trouble,stranger,veto,high tension e.t.c)failed to promote its bands and so its bands failed to made it on top.I strongly believe germany had the top scene in the 80's IN THE WORLD but don't you think the european metalhead now and then prefered some USA,UK ones and rejected his neighbours.Don't you think this is unfair?

I'd definitely agree that the classic German/Dutch/Belgian scene was underrated and the US scene overrated, even if perhaps a couple of bands only got to the vinyl stage thanx to the fact that just about any German/Dutch band got signed back then. Not so in the US though.

Gama were a bit hit&miss in my ears. STRANGER and GRAVESTONE was good, STORMWITCH and TYRANT OK, HIGH TENSION and NO TROUBLE pretty lame. It's kinda weird how a so-so band like NOISEHUNTER got to release 3 albums while the killer HEADSTONE had to release their only LP themselves.

Other German faves are METAL SWORD (almost the definition of what I like to call 'Euro Metal'), UNICORN, ATTACK (who sounded very 'un-german' but were still awesome), that-band-with-DEATH-in-the-bandname-who-only-made-one-LP -with-just-the-logo-in-red-on-a-black-background-who's-name-I-forgot and ofcourse ACCEPT!

The band that you forgot i think is DEATH WARRANT

the bandname is SUDDEN DEATH and called "all or nothing"....

Peter just won an invisible ANTHRACITE LP

2 more german favourites:
AIRWOLF - superb speed metal w/ raw vox! "Victory Bells" is the album R Wild should have released after UJR.
AVENGER - "Prayers of Steel" is perfect Metal all the way! It's remarkable how bland theRAGE stuff sound next to this jewel.

Seems to me that German '80s bands had it pretty roughly in their day, especially given their talent. If these bands were from Holland they'd have pressed a vinyl even if they sucked. Granted, it wouldn't have received the same attention as if it had been pressed in the USA (Americo-centrism even pervades the metallic kingdom, alas), but it would have been pressed.

German heavy metal and rock of the 1970s was better than the '80s stuff. There, I said it. Given the quality of the '80s stuff... well, I guess the country knows its metal.

The mighty STORMWITCH was the class act of Gama Records. The rest of their host I find somewhat lacklustre, though Gravestone was fairly entertaining... I have to agree with Dan on the Noisehunter matter, and actually releasing Vectom on vinyl and meaning it... Where is death penalty when it's justified?

Stormwitch is my favourite german 80's metal band together with obvious choices like Running Wild, Accept and Grave Digger (Heavy Metal Breakdown IS a masterpiece). Brainfever was quite good as well, and Tyran Pace, at least Long Live Metal.

German heavy metal and rock of the 1970s was better than the '80s stuff

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Though I might not agree, this would be good opportunity to recommend one of the heaviest and most metallic (in the 80's sense of the word) 70's albums ever: NECRONOMICON - "Tips Zum Selbstmord"! Progressive hard rock with brutal guitars all the way, without the mellow hippie-parts inbetween. A truly unique album.

NECRONOMICON is a decent band. "Requiem der Natur", "In Memoriam" and "Die Stadt" are cool tunes. I like others a bit more.

Is it one of the heaviest of the '70s, though? Mmm, not sure I agree with that, but it has some steel in it that's for sure.

...and I dig mellow parts, dammit! They're the most cruel treatment a record can give you. You're listening to "Solitude", thinking your torment is over and you have time for your wounds to heal... then BAM! You're ground up and your hamburgered flesh is tossed Into the Void!

Wow guys what the hell are you talking about??!??An underrated German scene and an overrated US scene?!? I just can not agree.

Yes, Germany had a very strong, powerful and absolutely influential metal scene but that goes only for the run of the mill type of bands like Accept, Running wild, Helloween, Rage etc. On the contrary, 90% of the German underground bands sucked. Of course, if you call Stormwitch or Tyrant an underground band it's ok with me, but then we should have stopped at Jag Panzer or Hittman in the USA (regarding the underground level), both of which CRUSH easily the first two (my example is random). The two biggest problems for the German bands IMO were :1) unbelievably awful vocalists, who just could not hit a high note correctly without sounding like sissies 2) lack of originality in the composition section- most of them sounded like D-class copies of Accept or Judas Priest. There are some exceptions of course, but generally i believe that one could find more easily an underground US band that he would like or perhaps adore, rather than a German band. OK, everything is matter of taste after all, but i find a little bit "weird" a comment like "US scene is overrated". Besides, US scene had some thousand bands more than Germany. It wasn't so easy all of them to be brilliant. USA had bad bands, Germany as well, France too, UK the same. Tell me ONE metal scene in the world, whose bands were ALL great- you won't find any. OK, some of you maybe frustrated with the fact that some U$ ob$cure band$ are overrated-and i will definitely agree with you- but you just can't condemn the whole scene, because of 9-10 bad and unfortunate cases.

Anyway, what about the thrash scene? In my opinion: Germany vs USA:1-0.

ION BRITTON wrote: Anyway, what about the thrash scene? In my opinion: Germany vs USA:1-0.

I'll take most US thrash over German thrash, not to say a lot of it was good. But bands in the Destruction, Kreator, and Sodom vein were just too generic. Favorite German thrash bands include Vendetta, Death In Action, Darkness, Protector, Defender, and some others. A lot of German thrash lacked melody since they were going for that Kreator type sound. Even the score 1-1.

DaN wrote:
It's kinda weird how a so-so band like NOISEHUNTER got to release 3 albums

you are in my death list now....

you are in my death list now....

Yeah, I figured I'd be stepping on a few Mexian toes with that one

Weather the US or Europe had the best scene, I can't really say. Too many factors to make a general judgement. I still think there's too much possitive bias towards old American bands than European though. I mean, bands like HELSTAR, GARGOYLE, LIEGE LORD, HEIR APPARENT weren't that more 'original' than let's say OSTROGOTH, DARK WIZARD, NOISEHUNTER or GOTHAM CITY. Which bands were the best on the other hand is purely a matter of taste. And I always like the Udo/Rock'n'Rolf/Torsten Bergman raw & mean style of HM vocals over the high-pitched US tradition of singing.

Then again, the US had Blackie Lawless and Siki Spacek so...

I think when speaking of underrated german metal, ATLAIN comes first in my mind!

DaN wrote: Yeah, I figured I'd be stepping on a few Mexian toes with that one

You are still in my death list, you wise guy