SAVAGERS

"Allt är inte guld som glimmar.." as we say in Sweden. It translates roughly: "All that glitters isn't golden" and it surely is a fitting proverb when listening to this rare-beyond-rare mini-album. It's an intriguing release which has eluded collectors until only just recently. A few copies have surfaced the last couple of years and I would guess that this record, although most likely pressed and manufactured in '84, was never officially released. The obvious reason being that it sucks. Yep, "Preacher of Steel" could have been the coolest and most collectable FWOSHM-private ever (and twice as expensive!) if the band had bothered to rehearse before entering the studio, or tuned their instruments, or sacked their awful singer, or shot their good-for-nothing "producer". And they're not even crummy in a cool and charming way (being a total Brat-/Basement-Metal freak, I should know!) What makes it even more irritating is that the actual songwriting is rather OK, even if no particular song stands out. Musically it pretty much resembles the other Swedish Classics like AXEWITCH, TORCH, 22O VOLT etc, i e heavy JUDAS PRIEST-like Metal w/ the emphasis on vocal harmonies. You kind of wish they'd been a bit more coherrent in their lameness. That way they'd be easier to ignore. Now they're a total enigma. I've looked for X'eros, Thunderhawks, and Double-Hammers in the phonebooks, hoping to find out more about the band, but to no avail. In conclusion: this is for completist Scanda-metal collectors only, although the band score some extra points for at least being "True Metal" and not just another AOR/Blues/New Wave-crossover case like so many other "unknown" old privates.

Das Cover, in seiner zart-weinerlichen Faltausführung, vergleichbar mit japanischen LP-Inserts, zeugt von ungeheuerlichem Spargedankengut, auch die Auflage bewegt sich in spärlichem Gefilde. Ähnlich dünn wie die Zellulose-Ausstattung operiert die Produktion, auch der Sänger gurgelt schwächlich umher, erinnert an German-Metal der grauen Vergangenheit, nicht anstrengend zwar aber auch nicht verlockend. So bewegt sich die Phonspende im Graubereich mittlerer EBONY-Ergüsse in Zweisamkeit mit Eurometal-Braukunst, nette, leicht verdauliche Banger, die angesichts des hohen Alters einen gewissen Reiz nicht vermissen lassen. Frühe Auswürfe der Landsmänner 220 VOLT könnten als Vergleichsstütze Verwendung finden, GRAVESTONE und ähnliche Gebilde rutschen ebenso aus dem Gedankenreich, somit sind die sechs Notenbonbons mit Drang zur kurzweiligen Mittelmäßigkeit keine Schande für die anderen Vinylgeschwister im Stall.