Battle Axe

Wisconsin’s Battle Axe unleashed their sole vinyl offering upon the world in 1985 to little-no fanfare. On some level the lack of acclaim was understandable; the Metal World was getting pretty crowded by 1985, and the tide was shifting towards heavier and also glammier directions with little room left in-between for bands that cranked out the ‘traditional’ heavy metal sound that had become popularized during the first half of the decade. And unfortunately that middle ground is where BATTLE AXE had staked their claim, with their album at times feeling like equal parts ACCEPT and ANVIL. Similar to these groups, the BATTLE AXE tunes tended to veer back and forth between commercial-leaning ‘MTV Metal’ numbers and more solid metallic fare. Mind you, the songs are not bad for that style, it’s just that many of them had already been done. For example, you can spot the sappy-sounding ballad (‘Sara’) as soon as you glance at the back cover. And I bet all my Motorhead denim patches that any fan of 1980s metal can sing ‘Down to the Wire’ even if they have never heard of BATTLE AXE; tre cliché. Speaking of singing, the vocals are something to behold, somehow being equal parts shrieky and gravely… is that combination possible? If these guys didn’t have Udo stickers all over their amps I’d be shocked.

One should note that for every MTV-wannabe tune, such as ‘Looking for Love’, there is also a ‘real’ metal tune to be heard on here. Tracks such as ‘Renegade’ and ‘The Mercenary’ demonstrate that the band had some genuine metal chops and really were trying to copy the ACCEPT formula of making songs with real metal appeal alongside ‘hits’ that might fare similarly to the anthems of TWISTED SISTER and QUIET RIOT. Alas it didn’t work out for the BATLE AXE crew, which is kind of a shame because I actually rather like this record. Even if you were to focus on the negative aspects of this release, it’ll always have a place on my vinyl shelf for the incredible ‘Hats Off to Margaret’. This quirkily titled track is one of my absolute favorite barn burners; total Porchse Force Metal indeed! Balls, out (and to the wall), power screaming out of both barrels, equal parts heavy and nasty sounding. File it with tracks such as SINNER’s ‘Blue Tattoo’- this is the stuff you crank to eleven when racing your souped-up hot rod behind the local high school while trying to impress the hawt chick with big 80s hair and a denim jacket with Dee Snider’s likeness emblazoned on the back.

Amazingly, a compilation and a reissue have seen the light of day in recent years, which signifies that there is no item from the 80s Metal Underground that is too obscure to be put back onto vinyl these days. I’m not sure how I feel about this trend overall, but hats off to whoever dug this one up for everyone to check out.

Mixture of AC/DC and rough US-Metal. High-pitched vocalist. Not bad, but no classic.

Eines gleich vorweg: Hierbei handelt es sich nicht um die britischen BATTLE AXE, die sich Anfang der Achtziger mit zwei Scheiben bemerkbar machten, sondern um eine US-Band, deren mir einziges bekanntes Vermächtnis die "We’re On The Attack" LP ist. Und der Titel ist völlig Programm! Attackiert wird der Hörer, bereits entzückt vom herrlich obskuren Cover, mit knackigem Hard Rock / Heavy Metal, dessen knallende Produktion dir eine Ohrfeige nach der anderen überzieht! Einige Refrains lassen Parallelen zu AC/DC erkennen, woran der Sänger sicher nicht ganz unschuldig ist, da Harlen Hardrock Smalley eine ähnliche Tonlage wie Brian Johnson zu seinen besten Zeiten bevorzugt. Die Melodien bleiben sofort im Ohr hängen, und über die Gitarrenriffs zu schreiben hiesse Eulen nach Athen tragen, hier wird gedrescht und gerockt dass einem die Tränen kommen! Insgesamt entwickelt die Scheibe aber ein sehr eigenständiges und obskures Flair und hinterlässt mit Garantie keinen faden Nachgeschmack. Eher empfiehlt es sich, vor Genuss dieser Scheibe den Nacken gut zu ölen, sonst ist Achterbahn! Bestimmte Songs hervorzuheben erübrigt sich, da sich alle neun Stücke bis auf die zugegebenermassen schreckliche Ballade Sara alle auf gleichhohem Niveau befinden. Das Geld ist gut angelegt, glaubt mir! Rock it’ill the End!!
(Chris Riederer)

"We're on the Attack" ist eine geile US Scheibe, deren Knackpunkt sicher der Sänger ist. Eine derart hohe Tonlage ist sicher nicht nach jedermanns Geschmack, passt aber gut zu den speedigen Songs. Battle Axe haben sich auf neun Tracks in die US Geschichtsbücher eingetragen und ich möchte sie darin mit zur zweiten Garnitur zählen. An Meilensteine wie ESP, Gargoyle etc. kommen sie nicht ran, lassen aber so manche hochgelobte Scheibe hinter sich (Dungeon).