Sparto

I was going to start this review ranting about how there's no jungles in Spain "...except for their 80's Metal output!" ...but it turns out there is indeed some tropical rainforest on the Canary Islands and a few other remote places. I HATE it when reality comes in and ruins my puns! The point: the old Spanish Metal scene is huge and rather poorly mapped out compared to other European countries. With that in mind it feels extra sweet to find yet another unsung pearl from the unkempt wilderness of the Spanish HM 80's!

"Victimas, Heroes" the song is the finest Spanish tribute to Saxon and particularly their legendary stadium-destroyer "Denim And Leather" I've ever heard, and considering how many half-assed attempts there's been from all over the world through the years this one is a true standout gem. Sparto truly oooozes of Quality Metalship from the get-go here - absolutely zero flaws or pitfalls present. Both followers "Unidos De Verdad" and "S.I.D.A." keep up the pace with strong, classic NWOBHM-meets-Accept leads, with extra goosebumps bonus points to the opening bars of the latter. 2 major strengths of the band that's particularly prominent here is how they both manages to keep their "groove" better than many of their mid-European comrades, and are generally better songwriters than many of their 'big brothers' on their home turf (let's not name & shame?)

The grand finale "El Heavy No Es Violencia" really puts the pedal to the Metal with some fast Priest-Power gold and thusly you've got yourselves another all-killers-no-fillers Mini to add to your wantlists - and do check out their slightly less rare full-lenght debut from the same year if you get the chance. It doesn't quite reach the hit-level of this EP and comes in a less striking sleeve, but it's still a very solid 80's HM release, here with a tad more AC/DC-flavoured sound. The fact that the whole band feel at least half a decade behind their time only adds to their coolness if you ask me. By 1988 the world was chock-full of far too many boring techno-thrash bands anyways.

On a final note, the 1992 follow-up album "Entre Dos Fuegos" is a much more mellow, polished and commercial affair, or as we say at The Corroseum, "complete and utter shite!"