Acero

If the contradiction "Spanish NWOBHM" doesn't get you overly excited it's probably because you've approached the concept from the wrong direction. Imho the most exciting records in this scene are found among the supposed "2nd tier" crowd, including but not limited to the debut albums of bands like Evo, Zarpa, Mazo etc... An unsung diamond in the rough is the one and only release (no, post-milennial reunion CDs NEVER count) by Alicante's grand old men of Steel, ACERO.

Perhaps it's the somewhat generic front sleeve that has pushed this EP out of the collector limelight, othewise I can see no reason for this undeserving silent treatment. "Primordial Heavy Metal" is the most descriptive, home-made sub-genre I can come up with, and it's especially fitting for the opener "Vibracion", roaring along like the best early British Motörhead-wannabes from 2-3 years prior. The combination of Alfonso's rough but tempered voice and the warm, almost... cushioned (coz "muffled" would give the wrong impression) production fits them ever so well. The Maiden is strong with the following speedster "Distrito 11" and I'm sure most would agree on it being their finest and most steelclad moment. Frankly they sound pretty much dead-on like a Spanish version of everyone's (2nd? 3rd?) favourite Italians Berserks here and how could I give a better compliment than that? Of course there has to be at least one major doo-doo on such an ignored release and this time it comes in the form of an exceptionally dull, slow blues rocker stinking up the first half of side B, but they quickly recover and close the deal with another uptempo salut to the olde gods and this time 70's era Judas Priest is the target of adoration, in the process reminding me of a number of old South-American cult acts like Hellion, Carbure, Resistencia etc..

So far I'd place this anonymous ugly duckling-slash-pearl in the medium-rare bracket so I'll suggest you grab a copy soon before it falls off the edge of the world, as all good things tend to do eventually.