The night is black as the grave, the thunder roars and out of the mist
comes a demon with eyes of fire, striking his axe with the first chords
of "Lady Killer". Lightning strikes as the razor-sharp logo
of ARGUS appear above him... Look out! THIS is Heavy Metal!
What we have here is HEAVY hard rock in the very fine American tradition
of early TWISTED SISTER,
CRYSYS,
JOE STEP and even MISTREATER or JAGGED EDGE(US) at their (ARGUS') heaviest
moments, forged in a time when Metal was more about the riffing and less
about the waving of plastic swords. The mentioned opening track gallops
forth towards a classic heavy rock break on the chorus. Nothing we have
haven't heard a millon times before, but still perfect and with guitars
set in stone. "Another Gloomy Day" comes with a great, pounding
headbanger-lead likely to keep your neck muscles busy for it's entire
4 minutes. Things metallize slightly on side B: "Children..."
is almost Epic Metal! - fucking glorious riffing in this one and definitely
the high-point of the album. The closing "Down The Motorway"
has more of those superb heavy rock leads you can't help but love, generic
though they may be. The only let-down is the chorus, where the somewhat
nasal vocals of Frank St. James comes out a bit too clear, which in turn
doesn't do the rather nonsensical melody any favours. An annoying ending
to an otherwise ace golden oldie.
This is the kind of classic, heavy cardboard covered, private pressing
HM one wouldn't/couldn't/shouldn't leave behind if and when the opportunity
to add it to one's collection appears. It won't change your life, but
it will rock your weekend, coz this is some sturdy shit. This is Heavy
Metal.